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...
Buddy’s guest was the Rev. Clayton Crawley, who leads most of St. Bart’s Wednesday 6 pm services. Clayton is an ordained Episcopal priest and Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer for the Church Pension Group. Clayton...
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...