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, August 17, 2025 Seeing Clearly: Evidence, Intuition, and the Search for the Common Good
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
Upcoming Speakers at The Forum
August 24 Gendered Islamophobia: Deconstructing 30 Rights of Muslim Women
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.
Dr. Mary Sudman Donovan, historian, author, educator and pioneer of women’s history in the Episcopal Church was our Forum guest. At this 40th-year anniversary of women’s ordination in the Episcopal Church, Dr. Donovan discussed how...
Actor Phil Darius Wallace was Buddy’s guest. Opening in a new American play this month entitled Self Made Man: The Frederick Douglass Story, Darius has performed across the country starring as Martin Luther King, Richard Wright, and...
Frances Hesselbein, President and CEO of the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute, was Buddy’s guest. Frances, a relatively new member of St. Bart’s, served for many years as the CEO for Girl Scouts of America and is recognized as...