The Holden Village Podcast

It’s been a little over six months since the evacuation and closure of Holden Village. Although the Village is closed to guests, a small intrepid team of in-village staff remain to protect the Village and ensure its continued operation. This chapter of Holden history has been an opportunity for great growth and innovation. How do you run Holden Village with under fifteen people and without a roadw...

Following Jesus Beyond Church Walls: A Catalyst for Your Spiritual Growth is a new book by Rev. Chantal McKinney and is the subject of an upcoming book group hosted by Holden Village.  Through her book, McKinney takes readers on a grounded journey of lament, healing, and spiritual discovery as she explores aspects of following Jesus that have been suppressed in patriarchal Christian culture, leadi...

As we navigate this unpredictable time, we are working hard to continue to offer safe, creative spaces for learning, play, and building community! Holden Village is excited to announce three spring 2026 facilitator sessions.  The first of these sessions will invite participants to explore how faith, courage, and love of neighbor can help us move towards a society where everyone belongs and everyon...

In the spirit of renewal, we celebrate the transition of co-directors Stacy, Mark, and Kathie as they conclude their service to Holden Village. To honor this important moment in Holden history, Villagers gathered to celebrate with a weekend of music, dancing, and a blanket ceremony by Vance Blackfox. It was a joyful weekend of celebrating SMK’s leadership and love for the Village! To reflect on th...

In the spirit of renewal, we celebrate the transition of co-directors Stacy, Mark, and Kathie as they conclude their service to Holden Village. To honor this important moment in Holden history, Villagers gathered to celebrate with a weekend of music, dancing, and a blanket ceremony by Vance Blackfox. It was a joyful weekend of celebrating SMK’s leadership and love for the Village! To reflect on th...

In the spirit of renewal, we celebrate the transition of co-directors Stacy, Mark, and Kathie as they conclude their service to Holden Village. To honor this important moment in Holden history, Villagers gathered to celebrate with a weekend of music, dancing, and a blanket ceremony by Vance Blackfox. It was a joyful weekend of celebrating SMK’s leadership and love for the Village! To reflect on th...

The summer theme for 2025 is Life Anew, recognizing all the ways fire is part of a healthy ecosystem and prepares for the future forest. June 29 was the tenth anniversary of the lightning strike that started the 2015 Wolverine Fire six miles east of the Village. Over the next eight weeks the fire would consume 65,323 acres in the Entiat, Lake Chelan and Railroad Creek watersheds. By the end of Jul...

Holden Village debuts a new vespers this summer. “Isaiah: Is This the Fast We Choose?” is a liturgy composed by John Hermanson and edited and arranged by Maren Haynes Marchesini. The music draws from the Book of Isaiah, a collection of prophetic texts in the Jewish canon. The book is referenced frequently in the teaching of Jesus and reveals that justice, liberation, care for immigrants, release o...

This episode of the Holden Village Podcast features Kendra Mylnechuk Potter (Lummi); a theatre and film artist, birth+death doula, yoga educator, partner, and mother. Most of her work centers on the mother/child relationship and embodied storytelling, with an awareness that this precious human form is a sacred gift we get to keep learning through again and again. Since 2021, Kendra has delivered k...

To kick off this season of the Holden Village Podcast, Ellen is joined by Meisha Wangerin and June Thomassen, co-facilitators of a condensed version of the transformative Basic AVP workshop, designed to provide practical tools for conflict resolution, personal growth, and building peaceful communities. The Alternative to Violence Project (AVP) is rooted in experiential learning, offering participa...

In the midst of the energy and heat of Abriendo Caminos, two of our teaching faculty, Emilie and Armando, their friend Flor de Marquez, and Kathie Caemmerer-Bach, one of Holden’s Co-Directors join in conversation discussing the Church, Holden and Emilie and Armando’s organization SICSAL. In this episode, Emilie also acts as a Spanish translator for Armando.   Emilie Teresa Smith is an Argentine-bo...

Many things about Holden have changed since the mining days, but one thing remains the same, even in the heat of summer, the pool hall remains cool--an excellent place to escape the midday heat.  Nestled in a back room away from the joyous sounds of children bowling and playing ping pong, Elli, a long-term staff member and Elisabeth Cherland, a guest musician from summer 2024 teaching faculty disc...

This episode is a conversation between Holden Villages Naturalist Nic Caddell and a member of our summer 2024 teaching faculty Pamela Adams, a self-appointed freelance beaver detective. Nic and Pamela discuss the importance of beavers and other keystone species and the art of noticing. At the time of this recording, cottonwood fluff floats in the air and villagers take refuge from the summer heat...

Anjuli Shah-Johnson is a somatic therapist who integrates teachings from the worlds of clinical social work and bodywork in hopes of walking alongside others in finding the paths that connect their body, mind and heart.  She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Licensed Massage Therapist with specialized training in utilizing therapeutic touch and craniosacral techniques to tend to folks who...

Rev. Dr. David Vásquez-Levy serves as President of Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California –a progressive, multidenominational seminary and center for social justice that prepares theologically and spiritually rooted leaders to work for the well-being of all.  A committed pastor, a nationally recognized immigration leader, and a sought after speaker, Vásquez-Levy leads at the intersecti...

John Tirro is Pastor of Worship at St John's Lutheran Church (ELCA), in Knoxville, TN, and a composer of hymns, such as "To You All Hearts Are Open" (Holden Prayer Around the Cross, All Creation Sings). He has written hits for the pop end of Country radio (“So Much for Pretending” for Bryan White. “Imagine That” for Diamond Rio), as well as songs on best-selling albums by LeAnn Rime...

Welcome to Holden Main Street: a playful podcast series dedicated to capturing the daily life and creative musings of ordinary folk at Holden Village. Who are the people drawn to this wild and uniquely transformative mountain community? How do their descriptions of hilarity, wilderness living, shared work and interior exploration shape the landscape of their time here? Expect to be delighted by im...

Laron has served diverse church ministries, quartet groups, and additional special engagements (funerals, weddings) for approximately 15 years. Laron has also taught students from different background and agents how to play piano by ear. Laron has enjoyed joining various forms of musical needs for diverse communities. Laron is a staunch advocate for learning a wide range of musical styles to enric...

Giovana Oaxaca (she/her/ella) is the Program Director for Migration Policy with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s (ELCA) D.C. office for Witness in Society. In this role, she works for more just and humane federal immigration policies within a domestic and international context, engagement informed by the experience of Lutheran congregations and ministries, including the ELCA AMMPARO st...

Sara is a classically trained actress with tendencies to fly by the seat of her pants, an improv instructor and performer, who teaches others how to enhance listening skills, playfulness, empathy, connectedness, and liberation from fear of failure. She is an emerging papercut artist, whom you can visit at IG @saramacpapercuts. David delights in listening to the aspirations of leaders and helping t...

Saskia de Vries is a neuroscientist at the Allen Institute in Seattle Washington. Raised in California, she bounced back and forth between the west and east coast for her training, moving to Seattle in 2012 when she joined the Allen Institute. Her research has focused primarily on visual physiology, how the cells and circuits in our eyes and brain transform the visual world into perception. She is...

Paul Hinderlie began his earthly ministry making way too much wine and at the end was grilling fish for breakfast on the beach. Perhaps that's why Paul became a cook. Carol Lund Hinderlie first came to Holden as a young staff member. Soon thereafter she brought her whole family to visit and work, beginning a long and fulsome history with the Village. She and Paul were married at Holden, spent...

Krish is the President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. She previously served in the Obama White House as Policy Director for First Lady Michelle Obama and at the State Department as Senior Advisor under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of State John Kerry.

Lenny Duncan (they/them) is an artist. Preacher. Esoteric fool. Student Teacher. They produce art and media at the intersections of faith and radical abolitionist dreams in America. Lenny is the auhtor of Dear Church and United States of Grace, and the Forthcoming: Dear Revolutionaries - A Field Guide to the World Beyond the Church. A Phd student in historical and cultural studies of religion, who...

Heather, Steve, Mark and Rachel talk with Dev about the Prayer of Jesus...part of the new vespers service (Bless This Night) that was composed and released at Holden Village this year. They reflect on their process and some of the decisions that they made in translating the Lord's Prayer into contemporary language and setting it to music. The Prayer of Jesus The disciples asked Jesus to teach...