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, September 21, 2025
A Masterpiece Hiding in Plain Sight: The Triple Portal Entrance to St. Bart’s Church
Carole Bailey French, President of St. Bartholomew’s Conservancy, discusses the majestic Triple Portal entrance to St. Bart's and efforts currently underway to preserve it for future generations
Upcoming Speakers at The Forum
September 28 The Reverend Dr. Duncan Dormor, General Secretary, United Society Partners in the Gospel
October 5 The Reverend Ryan Kuratko, PhD, Chaplain to Canterbury Uptown, and the Reverend Megan Sanders, Chaplain to Canterbury Downtown, The Episcopal Diocese of New York
October 12 Dante Tipiani, Senior Navigator & Community Builder, CaringKind
October 19 The Reverend Frederick A. Davie, Senior Executive Vice President for Public Theology and Civic Engagement, Union Theological Seminary
Watch or listen to The Forum from previous weeks below.
Attorney Mary Rothwell Davis, who oversees the larger Diocese’s work on immigration and refugees, assesses the current federal approach to immigration and shares thoughts on what we, as people of faith, can do.
Directly before a liturgical performance of Duruflé’s Requiem by St. Bartholomew’s Choir, Paul Machlin, Arnold Bernhard Professor of Arts and Humanities Emeritus at Colby College, examines the much beloved work, its connection...
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.
Christianity’s Complicated Origins: Implications for Christian-Jewish Relations Today
Jesus himself was Jewish, as were his disciples and the earliest Christians, and yet Christians have often downplayed their Jewish origins. Mary C...
As we recognize St. Luke’s Day and honor all healthcare providers, St. Bart’s members who work in the healthcare field offer their reflections on the past eighteen months and what comes next. (As this session of the Forum is...
The observance of Columbus Day is as controversial as ever. But who exactly was Christopher Columbus? Laurence Bergreen, author of Columbus: The Four Voyages, gives us a picture of the full, complex person and reflects on how we continue to...
When the current Pope chose his official papal name, he looked to Francis of Assisi, the medieval friar best known for his love of nature and steadfast commitment to poverty. Fordham University professor Patrick Hornbeck, a parishioner and...
Join us for our first live, in-person Forum in over 18 months! The Forum will also be livestreamed for those who prefer to tune in remotely.
The Reverend Kenneth Brannon, Vice Rector, St. Michael and All Angels Church, Dallas, Texas, explores...
As we mark the 20th anniversary of September 11, 2001, and mourn the millions who have already died as part of the COVID-19 pandemic, psychologist and psychotherapist Dorothy P. Holinger, Ph.D. explains how grief works and offers suggestions on...
Come Labor On: Reflections on Labor Day
On Labor Day weekend, the Reverend Richard Witt, Executive Director of Rural Migrant Ministry, reflects on the experience and needs of farmworkers in New York State and the importance of advocating for all...
Author Dr. Beth-Sarah Wright draws on her latest book Dignity: Seven Strategies for Creating Authentic Community to explore how our institutions, in the words of our Baptismal Covenant, can better “respect the dignity of every human...