The 2024 Fall Sojourn at Holden Village

Please join us for 2024 Fall Sojourn at Holden Village, when long-time and brand-new friends of the village come together for educational and recreational opportunities. After the busy summer schedule, fall is quieter and a beautiful time to visit. To
discover how to get to Holden Village, see here.
This week will feature the following great teaching staff:

Meggan Manlove will lead us in the practice of Story-linking. She began serving as bishop of
the Northwest Intermountain Synod-ELCA (88 ministries between Holden and Jackson, WY) in
July 2023. Before that she served as pastor of Trinity Lutheran, Nampa, ID, a church committed
to affordable housing, hunger ministries, and sharing faith stories. Her first call as a pastor was
in rural Western Iowa. Story-linking originated by Anne Streaty Wimberly has the goal of being
able to speak more confidently about our own lived Christian faith. Together we will engage
memoirs of the Mountain West, the Biblical narrative, faith stories from the American
Christian tradition, and finally our own decision making.

Mark Schwehn is a long-time love of Holden Village and a member of Holden’s board. The title of his
presentations is Shaping Identity: The How We Understand and Assess the Lives We Lead.
He has been a Senior Research Professor at Valparaiso University since his retirement in 2018.
He taught interdisciplinary courses for many years in the honors college at Valpo where he also
served as Dean and later as Provost of the University. His latest book, which he edited with his
wife Dorothy Bass and which he will use as a primary resource for his sessions, is “Leading
Lives that Matter: What We Should Do and Who We Should Be” (Eerdmans, 20l9).

Fred Niedner is another long-time lover of Holden and teacher at Holden. The title of his
Bible Study is Believing the Bible: Inhabiting Its Stories, Trusting God’s Promises. Fred is Senior Research Professor of Theology at Valparaiso University, where he taught biblical studies and Hebrew language from 1973 to 2014. While an active faculty member he also served in several administrative roles and preached regularly in Valpo’s Chapel of the Resurrection. He has published many scholarly articles, mostly on biblical topics, and for 25 years he wrote a bi-weekly op-ed column for northwest Indiana editions of the Chicago Tribune. Fred currently teaches in a variety of ecclesial settings but does not give grades, and he writes frequently for publications that serve the ministry of preaching. He has taught Bible studies regularly at Holden Village since 1992 and served on its board from 1994 to 2006.

Jonathan Rundman will be our village musician. He is a Midwest-based songwriter,
performer, and recording artist. His critically acclaimed songs have been highlighted in
publications such as Billboard, The New York Times, The Christian Century, and Living
Lutheran, and have been played on NPR’s Mountain Stage, The Ellen Degeneres Show, and
CBS This Morning. His songs have been used as programmatic theme music for regional and
national Youth Gatherings. His songs “By Grace We Have Been Saved” and “For Such A Time
As This” appear in the new Lutheran hymnal supplement All Creation Sings. In 2023 he was
the song leader at the ELCA Rostered Ministers Gathering in Phoenix, AZ, and the Festival of
Homiletics in Minneapolis, MN. In 2022 Jonathan Rundman graduated from Luther Seminary,
and now serves as Pastor of Worship and Music at Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church, in
Prior Lake, MN. See http://www.jonathanrundman.com/church for more information.

While at Holden Village you will have the opportunity to create your own rhythms for each day
according to your interests. Teaching sessions and opportunities for creative engagement will be
bountiful. You are encouraged to take time for rest and recreation – hiking, fly-fishing, weaving, other
crafts, and a host of other activities.

• In order to get the group rate of $90/night you need to register through this link.
• Let Darius Larsen that you have registered and where you are from at dariuslarsen@msn.com.
• You can either leave on 9/22 or, if need be, on 9/20.
• We recommend overnight lodging for 9/14. Remember to get boat tickets for 9/15.
• Please direct any of your questions to registrar@holdenvillage.org