Each week, guest speakers from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines join the Reverend Peter Thompson and other St. Bart's clergy for deep and insightful conversations about topics that matter to our lives as responsible citizens and people of faith. Speakers in recent years have included winners of the Tony Award, the Emmy Award, the MacArthur Fellowship, and the Pulitzer Prize, professors from prominent universities like Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia, and journalists from New York, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic.
In an age of information overload and political polarization, how do we discern what truly serves the common good? CUNY Law professor and St. Bart’s parishioner Ally Coll explores the promises and pitfalls of both evidence-based and intuition-led decision making—in our public life and our personal faith. Please post your questions in the comments section on Facebook or YouTube, or email the Reverend Peter Thompson at
With Dr. Daisy Khan
Watch or listen to The Forum from previous weeks below.
Have you wondered why the lines for food have gotten so long? Patrick Bergquist, Interim Executive Director of Crossroads Community Services, discusses the increasing prevalence of food insecurity within our city.
Tara Marlovits, Bailey Regan, and Veronica Shea talk about their new roles on the St. Bart's staff and share their hopes for the year ahead.
Scott Thumma, Director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research at Hartford International University, looks at how the church has transformed in the COVID-19 period and contemplates its future.
Simran Jeet Singh, Executive Director of The Aspen Institute’s Religion & Society Program, talks about growing up as Sikh in South Texas and reflects on the lessons he continues to learn from the teachings of his tradition...
Amy-Jill Levine, prolific author and the Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, places Jesus and Paul within their Jewish context and...
On the eve of the election of the next Bishop of New York, our Rector, Bishop Dean Wolfe, talks about why we have bishops and what they do.
David Silverman, Professor of History at George Washington University and author of This Land is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth County, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving, offers a true history of the holiday we celebrate...
On Veterans Day weekend, Harry Foster, an alum of the Warrior-Scholar Project, discusses the ways in which our society can better support those who have served our country in the military.
Artist Mel Ahlborn, Director of Illumination Studio, introduces the baptismal font she created for St. Bart’s and reflects on the meaning of baptism and the way in which art continues to enhance the life of the Church.
Claudio Lomnitz, Professor of Anthropology at Columbia University and author of Death and The Idea of Mexico, provides an overview of the beloved Mexican tradition.
The Reverend Dr. Randall Balmer, John Phillips Professor in Religion at Dartmouth College, discusses his new book about the intimate–and often unexamined–connections between religion and sports.
