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 24, 2025 Gendered Islamophobia: Deconstructing 30 Rights of Muslim Women
Dr. Daisy Khan, Founder and Executive Director of Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality & Equality (WISE), discusses how Muslim women’s lives can be improved by connecting them to beliefs that affirm human dignity and gender equality at the core of the Islamic faith.Please post your questions in the comments section on Facebook or YouTube, or email the Reverend Meredith Ward at
Upcoming Speakers at The Forum
August 31 Conversation with Clergy: What Did You Do This Summer?
The Forum is on hiatus for Labor Day weekend. In its place, join the clergy for an in person conversation about summer vacations and the fall season ahead.
September 7 Forum with Former Rector Buddy Stallings
The Reverend Buddy Stallings reflects on the decade since he retired as Rector of St. Bart’s and the state of the world today.
Watch or listen to The Forum from previous weeks below.
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...
Duke professor Norman Wirzba examines the relationship between what we eat and what we believe. Norman Wirzba is Gilbert T. Rowe Distinguished Professor of Christian Theology and Senior Fellow at the Kenan Institute of Ethics at Duke...
Lauren R. Kerby, who has studied white evangelicals’ relationship with Washington, DC, sheds light on the capitol insurrection we witnessed in January. Dr. Kerby is a lecturer at Harvard Divinity School and the author of Saving History: How...
The Reverend Peter Thompson and Dr. Paolo Bordignon talk with Dr. David Hurd, one of the leading musicians in the Episcopal Church, about his career and compositional work. Dr. Hurd is Organist and Music Director at The Church of St. Mary the...
Renowned historian Stephanie Coontz (https://www.stephaniecoontz.com/) answers questions on how romantic partnerships and family structures continue to evolve. Stephanie Coontz is Professor of History and Family Studies at The Evergreen...
Two of America's leading choral conductors, Dr. Anton Armstrong and Dr. André Thomas, explore the African-American spiritual, a much-beloved art form that emerged from the pain and horror of slavery. Dr. Armstrong...
After a highly contentious 2020 election season, Perry Grossman, Senior Staff Attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union, speaks about the importance of voting rights and the continuing fight to secure them for all Americans.
A panel of medical experts discusses the current vaccine rollout and the ethical issues it raises. We are delighted to welcome Dr. Catherine Belford Budd (https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine...) as moderator and to welcome back Dr. Jamie...
Dan Pinello, Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, explores the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Equal Protection Clause since World War II, and how constitutional history and language have impeded the full realization of...
BIshop Dean Wolfe introduces Jesse Ramos, the new Interim Executive Director of Crossroads Community Services, and together they discuss the important work Crossroads does to combat hunger and homelessness in New York City.
As we look back on an eventful year for The Forum at St. Bart's and for the larger world, we replay our most viewed conversation of 2020: "The Assumptions of Whiteness and the Challenge of Discipleship" with Fordham professor The Reverend Dr...