Canticle Farm

Inspired by the life of Francis of Assisi, Canticle Farm is a community experimenting at the intersection of faith-based, social-justice-based, and Earth-based nonviolent activism. Intentionally located in the Fruitvale District of East Oakland, where material poverty and urban violence are pervasive, Canticle Farm is “singing in the Great Turning, one heart, one home, and one block at a time.”

Many residents of Canticle Farm’s neighborhood experience the challenging effects of “the great unraveling” of our economic, political, and environmental systems. Canticle Farm forms part of an ethnically and racially diverse community that includes many people from rural areas. These neighbors have extensive farming experience and resilience rooted in Indigenous knowledge and traditions. This is precisely the place where new alliances and hope can flourish and where there is fertile ground for engaging in the Great Turning. In a city where despair and violence have been common responses to urban challenges, Canticle Farm supports activities that foster generosity and forgiveness in the human community and compassion for all beings.