The spiritual life in the Wood River Valley is always ebbing and flowing like the river for which the area is named. The year 2006 was no different.
Popular Episcopalian minister the Rev. Brian Baker, of St. Thomas in Sun Valley, left the church in March, a church he'd led for eight years, to become the dean at Trinity Cathedral in Sacramento, Calif. Bishop (retired) Craig Anderson moved to Sun Valley to pick up the reins as the interim replacement. A search committee continues to look for a permanent replacement for Baker.
At the Wood River Jewish Community, Rabbi Martin Levy departed in July. In his place is Rabbi Sheila Goloboy. She, too, is an interim replacement.
Goloboy is a corresponding member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis Responsa Committee and has presented papers in such diverse areas as sexual ethics, the Jewish imperative of Social Justice, and the engagement of marginalized teens in Jewish communal life.
"We've increased a lot of enthusiasm here," Goloboy said recently. "We dedicated a new Torah scroll and rededicated the refurbished Holocaust Torah. Over a hundred people there, which is pretty amazing for a community this size. It's been busy.
"We'll be launching a new Web site in January, and I look forward to more 'Skiing with the Rabbi' events."
Father John Morgan, 74, announced he would retire in 2007 from his post as spiritual leader of Our Lady of the Snows and St. Charles Borromeo Catholic churches in Sun Valley and Hailey, respectively. He has been a priest since 1958 and in the Wood River Valley for 12 years.
In May, the Sun Valley Center for the Arts hosted the Tibetan monks of the Deprung Loseling Monastery in Dharmsala, India, for several days of events including mandala making, chanting and prayer sessions.
Photo by Jim Grossman
Tibetan Monks surrender mandala sand into the Wood River in May.
