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.
Sunday, July 13, 2025 Make a Joyful Noise: The Power of Music in Difficult Times
Ethnomusicologist and St. Bart's parishioner Margaret Farrell reflects on how music can lift spirits in difficult times. Please post your questions in the comments section on Facebook or YouTube, or email the Reverend Peter Thompson at
Upcoming Speakers at The Forum
July 13Make a Joyful Noise: The Power of Music in Difficult Times
Ethnomusicologist and St. Bart's parishioner Margaret Farrell reflects on how music can lift spirits in difficult times.
Watch or listen to The Forum from previous weeks below.
The Reverend Dr. Mihee Kim-Kort, co-pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Annapolis, Maryland and author of Outside the Lines: How Embracing Queerness will Transform Your Faith, reflects on how practices of reading and listening might open us up...
Flora Ferrara, Keith Reinhard, and the Reverend Meredith Ward speak about recovering from loss and the grief group held under the auspices of St. Bart’s.
Bob Kiely, Ray Vandenberg, and The Reverend Meredith Ward, co-leaders of the St. Bart’s retirement group, discuss retirement as a major life transition.
Julie Ross, Executive Director of Parenting Horizons and author of How to Hug a Porcupine: Negotiating the Prickly Points of the Tween Years, draws on over three decades of experience working with children and families to offer insights about the...
Celebrate eight years of transformative ministry and wish Dean and Ellen well as they embark on retirement in Dallas! Dean will speak at The Forum and preside and preach at all four services. A joyous party in honor of Dean and Ellen will be held...
Nathaniel Gumbs, Director of Chapel Music at Yale University, reviews organ music by Black composers, including some pieces he will play at the 11 am service.
Isaac Sharp, Visiting Assistant Professor at Union Theological Seminary and author of The Other Evangelicals, offers insight into contemporary evangelicalism and its effect on the larger religious landscape.
The evangelical understanding of “worship music” has shifted dramatically over the last 50 years. Melanie Ross, Associate Professor of Liturgical Studies at Yale Divinity School, highlights several key historical and theological...
Technical Difficulties: Sound for this video begins at the 20:30 mark. We apologize for the inconvenience. Computer scientist and St. Bart’s parishioner Clay Williams offers insights into how Artificial Intelligence (AI) works and the...