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-born, Canadian-raised, Anglican priest, community activist and writer. She has lived in relationship with peoples of Abya Yala (Latin America) for almost 40 years. As co-president of the Oscar Romero network (SICSAL) she has spent time and supported communities in every region of the south and central continent, and in the Caribbean. Her heart commitment is to the full liberation of all people — and the joy to be found therein!

Armando Marquez Ochoa has been a practitioner of popular education since the birth of the church of the poor in El Salvador in the 1970s. As a young man he accompanied Oscar Romero, and since Romero’s death, Armando has dedicated his life to compiling and sharing the teaching of the now-saint. Armando is the director of the Brother Mercedes Ruiz Foundation, a support network for El Salvador’s Christian Base Communities (CEBs) and co-secretary of the Oscar Romero Network (SICSAL). 

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 [email protected].

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 discuss cyclic music, and the humanness of singing and how good it is for our bodies. 

Elisabeth Cherland is a fourth-generation choral conductor as well as professor, singer, song leader, violinist, and Lutheran church musician. As Director of Choral Activities at Minnesota State University, Mankato, she teaches courses in choral methods, conducting, private voice, and conducts the Concert Choir and Chamber Singers. Prior to her appointment at MSU she was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. Dr. Cherland earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting at the University of Washington, a Master of Music Education with Certification degree from VanderCook College of Music, and a Bachelor of Arts in Music and English from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. From classical to folk to hymnody, Elisabeth is most at home singing and playing collaboratively. She lives with her partner Kent and their two sons, Elijah and Leif, in St. Peter, MN. She loves storytelling and story-hearing, doughnuts, bubble tea, laughing, knitting, running (when the temperature is perfect and the course is flat), and sunshine when it’s available.

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 [email protected].

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 in our beloved Railroad Creek. We hope you enjoy this snapshot of Holden's summer community.
 
Pamela Adams is an advocate for beavers rights and riparian and wetland habitat health. As a 2020 graduate of the Beaver Institute’s BeaverCorps national program, she works with non-profits, municipalities, and landowners to develop coexistence strategies such as installing devices that allow humans and beavers to live more harmoniously. Pamela’s own organization, BeaverInsights, utilizes non-invasive videography to gather information about beaver families for educational research. Locations under study include the nearshore of The Elwha River, Olympic Peninsula, Bend, and Corvallis, OR, Seattle, WA, and West Brattleboro, VT. Most currently, Pamela is focused on her two year-long research of the four beaver families living in Longfellow Creek-a 3 mile urban watershed with documented high levels of stormwater pollutants yet full of beavers and wild salmon species currently coexisting for the first time in recent memory.

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 [email protected].

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 have experienced trauma and who hope to feel more at home in their lives, relationships and bodies.  She deeply values the natural healing powers of the outdoors, humor, touch and being in the presence of animals and integrates all of these into her teaching and individual sessions as much as possible.

After close to 20 years as a social worker, Anjuli has more recently begun to teach and mentor graduate level and pre-licensed therapists at a local university and agency with a special interest in supporting up and coming BIPOC and LGBTQ therapists.  She recently integrated Luna, her dog, into her private practice and has witnessed the profound impact of the human-animal bond.  She currently lives in Portland, OR with her two awesome kids, husband, dog and cat.

To learn more about her wok, visit www.healingjourneypdx.com.

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 [email protected].

Background music by Coma-Media: Chill Abstract (Intention).

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 intersection of faith, higher education, and social change. 

Vásquez-Levy regularly contributes a faith perspective to the national conversation on immigration and is the author of various publications that explore migration stories in sacred texts and in people's lives. He has lived in four countries and taught courses and led international study and service trips across the globe, including a course in France entitled, “Immigration/Refugee Crisis, Religion, Globalization and the Post-Colonial Immersion” and a course in Guatemala entitled: “Guatemala: Roots of Migration.”

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 [email protected].

Background music by Lesfm: Carlos.

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 Rimes and Rascal Flatts.

Trained in classical and jazz piano and voice, he learned guitar while writing on artist’s tour buses and uses all three to lead workshops in new hymns and worship at regional and national church gatherings. John is an experienced band leader, choir director, and record producer; he loves monasteries, mindfulness, and retreats; his music leans toward the contemplative; and his favorite sound is people singing together.

Visit johntirro.com and thereverbcollective.com for bulletin and hymnal accompaniment files.

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 [email protected].

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 improvised stories, poetry readings, the sounds of tea being poured, songs being sung, and bits of whimsy inspired by the moment. Enjoy.

In their time as Holden's naturalist, Nic Caddell has written curriculum, taught classes, and facilitated community conversations that have invited the guests and villagers of Holden Village into richer and more personal relationship with the living beings and processes that compose the Railroad Creek Valley ecosystem. Weaving together their experience working as a field ecologist, their collegiate studies in philosophy and critical queer theory, and their enthusiasm for playful and embodied learning, Nic has deepened our sense of place and prompted us to think critically about the ways we talk about, interact with, and care for the other living beings who call this valley home.

Referenced in this podcast episode: "Queer Theory for Lichens," by David Griffiths. https://core.ac.uk/reader/235683163.

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 [email protected].

Background music by Tomomi_Kato: The Sound of Water Drops.

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 enrich the musical experience. Laron has played at Holden village extemporaneously, and thoroughly enjoyed worshipping in the dining hall as the residents gathered around and sang hymns.  Laron looks forward to rejoining the Holden community in service for at least 2 weeks in multifaceted ways. 

Jenine has served in numerous capacities with various churches as senior praise and worship leader, choir assistant and ministry lead servant for over 15 years.  Her vocal influences include Sarah Vaughn, Leah Hathaway, and The Clark Sisters to name a few.  Her passion of gospel music is to empower others to utilize their voices as tools to expression, celebration, lament and inspiration as a lifestyle of worshipping God. 

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 strategy. 

Giovana was previously a Government Relations Associate with a Catholic faith-based social justice organization in Washington D.C. Giovana has Bachelor of the Arts degrees in Politics and Government and Economics from Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. In her spare time, she enjoys attempting new recipes and exploring town for the best scoop of ice cream.

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 [email protected].

Background music by Lexin_Music: World Travel.

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 them and their teams unlock hidden resources by facilitating meaningful and playful engagement. He enjoys collaborating with clients to design and facilitate retreats that catalyze trust, listening, and possibility - creating a space for both gravity and levity to emerge. He serves leaders and teams primarily in non-profit, business, and government. Find out more at DavidWesterlund.com.

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 [email protected].

Background music by Alex_MakeMusic: Inspiring Motivational Mood.