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 roadway? On this newest Holden Village podcast we check in with operations manager Steve Johnson and community services manager Emer Kate Sanders to learn more about the unique challenges Villagers face while operating the Village during the current closure.

From constant repairs to wood processing, from helicopter food deliveries to sorting through staff possessions, the in-village team is far from idle.

Plus, Steve and Emer Kate look back on the past six months of Holden Village and remember December’s mudslides and evacuation. What was it like to close down the Village? What was it like to return and start putting the pieces back together? Steve and Emer Kate share their memories and how Holden Village continues to inspire them.

Listen in to learn more about what daily life at Holden Village looks like without guests and what projects are around the corner.

For more information, subscribe to Holden’s newsletter and read about the Village’s Road to Recovery here.

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, leading to an inspiring and empowering vision of what the future church can become.

After serving in the Episcopal Church as a priest for twenty years, McKinney founded Root Thrive Soar and works with churches and faith organizations around the country who are ready to shift towards being the church in/among their communities by aligning themselves with the Spirit’s movement in the world around them through compassionate action and decolonized community engagement.

Rev. McKinney sits down with Carl Norquist for the Holden Village podcast to discuss faith, church harm, and what endures beyond it.

Holden Village's virtual book group with Rev. Chantal McKinney take place June 4, 11, 18. Registration is free. You can sign up on the Holden Village website.

McKinney's book is available through most online booksellers. You can support Holden directly by visiting Bookshop.org and purchasing from the Holden Store.

To learn more about Rev. Chantal McKinney, you can visit her website.

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 everyone can thrive.

Building the Society We Deserve is presented by Paths to Understanding executive director Pastor Terry Kyllo and program director Hannah Hochkeppel. Paths to Understanding is an interfaith nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering community connections and promoting understanding across diverse backgrounds.

Holden Village Advancement Partner Carl Norquist sits down with Terry Kyllo to discuss why working with people of different cultures is a central part of the Christian tradition and strategies for blocking injustice, bridging divides, and building new sustainable systems.

The first of these virtual sessions will take place on April 16. Registration is FREE! You can sign up to participate here.

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 their time as directors of Holden Village, Stacy, Mark, and Kathie each sat down with Creative Tech Ellen Callender to record a special podcast episode. They shared their journey to Holden, favorite stories, hopes for the future, and more.

To learn more about Holden Village, visit: http://www.holdenvillage.org or to listen to more audio recordings visit: http://audio.holdenvillage.org. The Holden Village Podcast is accessible through Apple iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeart Radio, and most podcast apps. For questions and inquiries, contact socialmedia@holdenvillage.org.

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 their time as directors of Holden Village, Stacy, Mark, and Kathie each sat down with Creative Tech Ellen Callender to record a special podcast episode. They shared their journey to Holden, favorite stories, hopes for the future, and more.

To learn more about Holden Village, visit: http://www.holdenvillage.org or to listen to more audio recordings visit: http://audio.holdenvillage.org. The Holden Village Podcast is accessible through Apple iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeart Radio, and most podcast apps. For questions and inquiries, contact socialmedia@holdenvillage.org.

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 their time as directors of Holden Village, Stacy, Mark, and Kathie each sat down with Creative Tech Ellen Callender to record a special podcast episode. They shared their journey to Holden, favorite stories, hopes for the future, and more.

To learn more about Holden Village, visit: http://www.holdenvillage.org or to listen to more audio recordings visit: http://audio.holdenvillage.org. The Holden Village Podcast is accessible through Apple iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeart Radio, and most podcast apps. For questions and inquiries, contact socialmedia@holdenvillage.org.

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 July 2015, the Village itself was under threat, and the Forest Service ordered an evacuation.

Roughly 300 people fled the Village during the Wolverine fire. Thanks to determined hotshot crews and Holden's own preventative measures, the Village was spared.

We sat down with former Holden Village directors Chuck Hoffman and Peg Carlson-Hoffman, Incident Commanders Nancy and Marc Rerucha Borges, and current Holden Village Fire Marshal Jeff Pierce to hear their memories of the 2015 Wolverine Fire.

Experience the story from the people who lived through it in part one of this three-part series.

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 of prisoners, redistribution of wealth and critiques of power are at the heart of our theology.

During this episode of the Holden Village Podcast, we’re joined by the three musicians who recognized Isaiah’s unambiguous call to justice and brought the text to life.

John Hermanson is an award-winning songwriter and composer of the acclaimed acoustic duo Storyhill, as well as projects spanning orchestral, world, pop, rock, and indie genres. Raised in the Lutheran church and rooted in prophetic and mystical traditions, his songs raise ancient yet urgent questions about radical love and mutual responsibility.

Maren Haynes Marchesini serves as Director of Worship & Music at Hope Lutheran Church in Bozeman, Montana. Maren is a choral director, cellist, vocalist, composer, and scholar with broad-ranging musical interests. She holds a PhD in Ethnomusicology from the University of Washington where she focused on megachurches, gender, and ritual.

And Megan Makeever lives a multi-pronged life as a professional flutist, multi-instrumentalist, award-winning singer/songwriter, recording artist, and music educator/collaborator. As a performer, Megan plays with various bands, groups, and ensembles in Bozeman, Montana such as the Bozeman Symphony, Montana Ballet Orchestra, Bozeman Chamber Music Project, and the Ellen Theatre Orchestra.

Isaiah was conceived in residencies and commissions in a variety of contexts including Holden Village. It’s available through the Holden store. You can also order your copies here.

To learn more about Holden Village, visit: http://www.holdenvillage.org or to listen to more audio recordings visit: http://audio.holdenvillage.org. The Holden Village Podcast is accessible through Apple iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeart Radio, and most podcast apps. For questions and inquiries, contact communications@holdenvillage.org.