The Farm is a nondenominational church.  We consider ourselves “free thinkers” because we discuss religion and philosophy in terms that do not exclude any possibilities.  The church has no name in accord with our beliefs; “church of The Farm Spiritual Community: is used only for descriptive purposes.  People come to The Farm from a variety of religious traditions and disciplines, and find those views treated with honor and respect.  While individual practices vary, our group practice in an ongoing, free-ranging discussion.  In keeping with our deep reverence for life, we are pacifists, conscientious objectors, environmentalists, and most of us are vegetarians.  We refer to “church” in the legal and generic sense, as “family” “tribe” “group mind” “group consciousness” “group soul” and other words, also described the about 4,000+ of us that are part of our unique experience.

            We settled this land as a telepathic, pacifist, communal church.  Realizing that commercialization was ruining the greater society, we agree that our yoga was to become “unconditioned monkeys” to unlearn the conditioning necessary for survival in the commercialized society, so that we would not perpetuate this behavior, but help change this behavior by our example, for the good of society.  We were attempting to raise our individual and group consciousness to a level where everyone is so aware of each other on the physical, astral, and spiritual levels, that a few formal rules, like the “Golden Rule” would be practiced, with the result that we would all be taking care of each other without infringing upon each other’s free will. Our land is held in trust for the use and benefit of the resident members of our church, the beneficiaries of our trust.  The resident members are free to chart their own destiny as long as this destiny “provides land for the needs and uses of the church of The Farm Spiritual Community.”

            Following is the definition of the church of The Farm Spiritual Community in the Amended and Restated Declaration of Trust and Trust Agreement of The Farm Trust (“The Farm Trust):  “….the church of The Farm Spiritual Community refers to the embodiment of the historical, collective, religious, and spiritual practices of the resident members of The Farm from 1971 through the present and the greater spiritual community to which those practices gave birth”

            Our spiritual beliefs are expressed in the book, this season’s people and other books by Stephen Gaskin.  The documentary, American Commune, is by sisters, Rena Mundo Croshere and Nadine Mundo, who grew up on The Farm during our communal days.  In addition to being a moving personal story of their family’s adjustment after the family left The Farm, it is, also, a commendable expression of our spiritual beliefs and actions.

            We are a church of spiritual agreements.  The glue that holds us together is the trust based on our spiritual agreements.  But out agreements are not stagnant and changed over time.  On the back of this sheet are what I understand to be the current minimum beliefs and agreements of the resident members of the church.

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                                                       Welcome to The Farm,

                                                       Joel Kachinsky, Secretary of The Foundation

                                                       (nonprofit, religious membership corporation that

                                                       manages The Farm)