Holden Village

Since I have returned from my continuing education experience at Holden Village I have received many questions regarding this very special place.  Holden is basically the ELCA’s flagship RETREAT CENTER that is open for public use as well as church members.  Here is a brief description:

Holden Village is located in the North Cascade mountains, an area rich in geologic history.   Holden Village is in its seventh decade of operation as a retreat center, emerging from the challenges of mine remediation, forest fires, and the pandemic, and looking ahead with a vision to continue expanding welcome to the wilderness.

Holden was a mining village until the mine closed in 1957. In 1960, Howe Sound Mining Company deeded the Village to the Lutheran Bible Institute in Seattle; programs began in 1962. The disruptions of mine clean-up in 2012-2015, forest fires, and the pandemic have been key events of the last decades. Holden reopened in 2021, and thousands of guests are now returning to the Village, most of whom come in the summer months and stay for about a week.

For all practical purposes, Holden is basically “off the grid” except for the office management where internet and phone service must be available for business use only.  There is no cell service in the area.  Holden is known as the most remota area in the lower 48 states.  The only way to get there is by ferry or barge up Lake Chalen. There are no roads to drive there.

On July 24, 1896, a prospector named James Henry Holden noticed a promising outcropping of ore on the side of what is now known as Copper Peak. The challenges—both geographic and financial—of mining in this remote wilderness would delay establishment of a producing mine for another 42 years, 20 years after Holden’s death.

Holden Village’s unique location in the wilderness offers you a distinctive opportunity to engage with issues of sustainability. Holden’s mission is to help us renew our relationships with God, the earth, and each other. One of our deeply held values is being connected to our place in creation, in the wilderness, in a way that is respectful and careful.   Holden holds a framework of Earth-honoring faith, in which scientific understanding enhances our relationships with God, the earth, and each other.

The drinking water that comes out of the faucet and the hydroelectricity that powers the lights come from nearby Copper Creek providing you with a unique opportunity to be intimately connected with the land that sustains us. When you flip a light switch, turn up your radiator, or take a hot shower, all those resources need to be brought into the Village by barge as diesel or propane, or ideally collected from what is seasonally available in this valley. Wood from along the road heats our buildings through the winter, while electricity and water come from a nearby alpine stream under the diligent maintenance of the Village utilities team.

While there are many practices that help Villagers live more lightly on the earth, Holden Village is also a complicated and nuanced place to talk about sustainability.   It recycles its own sewer waste and trash. What cannot be recycled on site is taken off the island by the ferry.  

We recognize that our food choices have significant consequences for those who gather the food, those who eat the food, and for the lands and seas that bring it forth. We strive to cook in ways that are healthy, delicious, expressive, and that minimize harm to individuals and communities both near and far. Holden serves a diet that emphasizes whole grains and legumes, fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, seeds, dairy, and is supplemented with ethically sourced meat products. We seek to cook and eat in ways that promote the health of the planet. When possible, Holden supports local food producers and promotes local food systems. 

For more information about Holden please see their website www.holdenvillage.org 

Now, I have ordered a few of their short history books if you are interested in reading the whole story of this fantastic place!  Please check them out on the table in the sanctuary entrance.  Also, many of you have expressed interest in going to Holden.  If you are one of them, please come and contact me.  If we get enough interest, we will schedule a congregational retreat to Holden in the near future.  I would love to take a van load of people there for a 3-5 day retreat!  Check it out!  YOU might be one who will be going too HOLDEN! 

There are scheduled events throughout the year with guest speakers that might be of interest.  We will keep this in mind if we schedule a retreat there. 

Peace,

PT