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.
Rami Ehlhanan, who lost a daughter in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, shares his story and reflects on the importance of dialogue, reconciliation, and peace. Rami is a member of The Parents Circle-Families Forum, a joint Israeli-Palestinian...
Our newest clergyperson, the Reverend Meredith Ward, Interim Associate Rector, explores the story of Mary Magdalene through art and scripture and examines how early interpretations of her have shaped our current understanding of this first...
The Very Reverend Nathan LeRud and the Very Reverend Peter Elliott, cathedral deans and hosts of the podcast The Gospel of Musical Theatre, preview the upcoming Broadway season, focusing particularly on revivals of West Side Story, The Music Man...
This is a replay of a popular installment of The Forum from July 5, 2020. David Blight, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom and Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and...
The Reverend Dr. Patrick Cheng, Theologian in Residence of our neighboring parish, St. Thomas Fifth Avenue, examines important issues at the intersection of race, sexuality, and religion. Please note: Because of Father Cheng’s...
Author Austen Hartke returns to St. Bart’s to explore stories of biblical characters who didn't fit the mold when it came to gender roles and expression and talk about how these stories can call us to welcome our gender-expansive siblings...
Anthony Pinn, the Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities at Rice University, reflects on the legacy of The Reverend Dr. Pauli Murray, a civil rights activist, lawyer, Episcopal priest, and trailblazer in the LGBTQ+ Community.
The Reverend Dr. Randall Balmer, John Phillips Professor in Religion at Dartmouth College and author of Solemn Reverence: Separate of Church and State in American Life, returns to St. Bart’s to discuss his new book about the separation of...
The Right Reverend Carl Wright, Bishop Suffragan for Armed Services and Federal Ministries, The Episcopal Church's Bishop Suffragan for the Armed Forces and Federal Ministries, contemplates the significance of Memorial Day and discusses his role...
Cheryl Bridges Johns, the Robert E. Fisher Chair of Spiritual Renewal at Pentecostal Theological Seminary, reflects on the meaning of Pentecost, often called “the birthday of the Church.”
