Welcome
Windstone Farm Linlathen is a place-specific nonprofit rooted in the (inextricably linked) social and natural history of the rural Ottawa Valley. We endeavour to both facilitate and cultivate community through a practice of interdisciplinary activities with particular emphasis on the conversations between Theology, Ecology, and the Arts. In the ecumenical spirit of Scottish theologian Thomas Erskine of Linlathen, who in the 19th century opened up his estate to friends and colleagues for hospitable reflection, Windstone Farm strives to be a space where those of diverse backgrounds can gather over a shared love of goodness, imagination, and the natural environment. Through modelling, teaching, and participating in relationship with the land and one another, we invite visitors and community members to unpack their understanding and indwelling of faith. Anchored in our commitment to a loving Triune God, we hope to work together to inspire others towards renewed perspectives and/or renewed energies for their callings at home.
Programs
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Linlathen:
Linlathen is a multi-day annual gathering hosted at Windstone Farm each summer. Participants come from across the world and across the road. While guest lecturers (theologians, ecologists, and artists) serve as the centring feature of the weekend, the hospitality, food, and farm itself set the stage for rich conversations, impromptu concerts, peaceful walks, and joyful connections. Our hope is that all who attend a Linlathen weekend experience Christian community that embodies the love of Christ.
Windstone Fellows:
Windstone Fellows are young adults who have chosen to participate in the daily rhythms of Windstone Farm for a period of time. Sometimes Windstone Fellows live on site, others live nearby. Here on the property and within its broader community they immerse themselves in a mix of guided spiritual reflection, ecological and farm work, and the gatherings hosted by Windstone Farm Linlathen.
Educational Partnerships:
Windstone Farm Linlathen partners with various educational organizations for opportunities to explore theology, ecology, and the arts. Whether with elementary school children on field trips, high school classes on retreat, or university students doing fieldwork and/or soulwork, Windstone Farm has become a destination for those who wish to experience hands-on-learning in a natural environment. Through these partnerships Windstone Farm Linlathen seeks to inspire a way of being that embodies both a joyful relationship with and a practiced care of the multifaceted world in which we dwell.
Local Events:
We aim for hospitality to be a defining feature of Windstone Farm. Whether local friends gathering for a book club, spiritual retreats, intergenerational gatherings for read-aloud book evenings, people dropping in for a walk on the many trails, house concerts, book launches, or friends reconnecting for a drink on the deck, we hope you will feel welcome in this hub of local community.
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About the farm
Until the nineteenth century, the land which is now known as Windstone Farm was part of the wider hunting grounds and home of the Anishinaabe. By the time the property was cleared by Scottish (Perthshire) settlers circa 1816 (our barns date to then; the log cabin is likely not much later), there were very few remaining of the Algonquin and Ojibway peoples who had once hunted, fished, and harvested rice in this unceded terrain now called Beckwith Township. The current stone house was built in 1840 by more Perthshire Scots – the Stewart family – who lived here continuously until 1960’s. Once 300 acres in size, Windstone Farm is now about 180 acres that stretch between 2 'Lines' of Beckwith, in Lanark county. The majority of the property is ‘arable’ (farmed land). The wooded wetlands between the fields and the road (‘The Westerlies’) are Protected Wetlands, and between the fields and the Side Road is an SSI – Site of Scientific Interest. Uniquely, three different watersheds fan out across the property: feeding the Mississippi Watershed, the Jock River Watershed, and the Middle Rideau Watershed. To learn about some of the more than one thousand different species we've documented here, visit our iNaturalist page.
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Throughout the seasons various friends and family, old and new, weave in and out of life at Windstone: spontaneous informal gatherings, planned events and conferences, work parties, summer internships, reading groups, music nights, bonfires, school groups, study blocks, snow days, art retreats, ski treks, bushwacking, cider-making, cookie-decorating, neighbourhood potlucks. None of these gatherings are completely distinct each from the other - it is thus that friends and families, old and new, are shared and intermingle, and enrich and effoliate (to use a Tolkienian term) each others’ lives.
Together we learn more about the land, its innumerable inhabitants, and ourselves - and together try to learn how to live well in this place we have been planted. We laugh lots, cry some, work and play and sing and pray and eat and drink
and share many stories.
This is life in community, together.
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Linlathen Lectures
Every summer the Linlathen Lectures are held at the farm, the signature event of "Windstone Farm Linlathen." A weekend long conference, a public lecture or performance, and other events are part of this annual gathering that celebrates and explores the relationships between
Theology, Ecology, & the Arts.
A Rocha
Windstone & Linlathen partner with A Rocha Ontario in various ways, including internships and events.
Please visit A Rocha Canada & A Rocha Ontario
for more on their important work.
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