Holden Village

Welcome to Holden Village

Over the course of 50 years, Holden Village has been transformed from a copper mining town to a vibrant place of education, programming, and worship. Holden invites people of goodwill of all ages to come and experience our rhythms, which inspire and equip travelers for a sustainable life of faith outside the Village.

Holden Village welcomes and embraces people of all races, ethnicities, religious backgrounds, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. We strive to overcome learned prejudices and develop relationships across difference. We actively seek liberation and transformation through education, relationship, and engagement with the Village’s core values.

Coronavirus Updates

April 1, 2020

A message from Co-Executive Directors Chuck Hoffman + Peg Carlson-Hoffman

"Give us faith to 'stay in' with good courage." ~Kaethe Schwehn

Dear Holden,

Seriously, moving into the Village with a forest fire and moving out of the Village with a pandemic? You’ve got to be kidding me! On top of that, Chuck and I are sheltered in Florida – about as far away from the Village as one can get and still be in the lower 48. It is remarkable how much work can be done from outside the Village, and perspective is helpful, but it grieves us.

All of this is to say that Holden Village, nor any of us, are exempt from the disasters on our planet or the heartbreaks of the world. Currently, the Village is closed to guests and arrivals of any kind except for food and mail. The Village is subject to the same distancing and sheltering in place as all of us. The Village remains under Governor Inslee’s mandate.

April 30th will be the next time we will announce what the summer might look like.

Chuck and I consider, daily, the ramifications of our decisions for Villagers, the Holden constituency, and the Village itself. For the last 5 years, we have relied on wise counsel, the Greater Holden Community, and the Spirit that sustains us. So far that’s been a pretty good combination. Love and thanks to all of you, more to come.

With good courage,

 Peg

March 15, 2020
A message from Co-Executive Directors Chuck Hoffman + Peg Carlson-Hoffman

To all Holden Villagers

We hold with great pride the culture that has been built and the values we have all tried to live through the years at Holden Village. They are ones of trust, respect, integrity, honesty, community, love and faith. This unique culture combined with the loyalty of the greater constituency, year after year, makes us who we are as an organization.

Today, we are living through a tough macro environment with the rapid spread of the COVID 19 pandemic, which is unsettling and concerning for all. Our heartfelt thoughts go to those who have been impacted by the virus.

As an organization, we are taking prudent steps to protect as much as we are able the safety and wellbeing of all our employees, volunteers, guests, friends and families, and to safeguard against the risk of COVID 19 spreading within our remote village.

After weighing options and responding along with other institutions already closing to attempt to slow the spread of the virus, and as a matter of care for our staff, guests, and community, we have decided effective immediately to close Holden Village to guests and visitors through April 30. We ask that you continue to support Holden financially during this time of uncertainty and if your stay has been impacted, we hope you will consider turning your deposit into a tax-deductible donation to the Village rather than asking for a refund.

Furthermore, we are formalizing an Emergency Preparedness Team to monitor and stay on top of the rapidly changing situation in the wider world, to think ahead into what that means for Holden, and to evolve our response and responsibilities within this wider pandemic. We feel it is imperative that we share with all our Holden Family the position we have taken, as listed below:

Practice heightened hygiene. In the Village we are all washing our hands frequently. Please go to our Facebook page for some fun ways to wash your hands and be entertained.
We highly encourage social distancing and no shaking of hands.
Frequented public areas such as the dining room, Fireside, bathrooms and gathering areas will be sanitized and disinfected on a regular and frequent schedule.
Everyone has been instructed to follow CDC guidelines and closely monitor their health. Should they feel sick in any way, they are to stay home.
No business travel for anyone.
All meetings that need to take place with anyone outside the village will take place via phone.
Holden Village Executive directors will remain in close conversation with our partners in the USFS, Rio Tinto, and Lake Chelan Boat Company.

Federal and state level information changes hourly and with each day. Our Human Resources department closely monitors the advice provided by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), the WHO (World Health Organization), and local government officials to ensure our Village and organization are kept informed and to provide further guidance.

Among the many un-knowns the upcoming weeks present, there is one certainty that the Village holds on to: That we have a strong and amazing group of people who will rise to the challenge. We are faced with no choice but to operate differently, which means a change in behavior different from what we may be comfortable with. Please know we are closely monitoring the changing landscape and will post regularly on Facebook and the website. The mice will continue to report on the weather daily.

It is times like this that causes us to reflect and be grateful for all that we have. The Prayer of Good Courage continues to be a mantra for us all and a ritual worth revisiting if you haven’t lately. We will do the same thing we did during the fire of 2015, we will listen, we will seek the wisdom of science, we will consult the expertise of the constituency, we will lean in to the spirit of the universe and we will hold you all in the light.

With good courage,

Peg Carlson-Hoffman + Chuck Hoffman
Co-Executive Directors

Holden Village Names New Executive Directors

The Holden Village Board of Directors is excited to announce the selection of a three-person team of Kathie Caemmerer-Bach, Mark Bach, and Stacy Kitahata to serve as the next Holden Village Executive Directors.

A Message from the Board of Directors

The Board recently approved the a motion to direct the Nominating Committee, in consultation with the rest of the Holden Village Board, to adopt, for an interim period, a new model to discover new members of diverse voices and bring forward 2 – 4 nominated candidates for approval. This means that our normal process of soliciting applications will not occur this year.

The Holden Job Board

Looking for a change of pace, a supportive community, and the opportunity to learn new skills? Check out Holden's Job Board for a complete list of volunteer and employment opportunities now available in the Village.

Cover Photos by Hannah Lauber, Callie Mabry, and Aj Williams.