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, February 22, 2026
U.S Immigration Enforcement and Child Abuse
Over the past two decades, and especially in recent months, escalating use of federal immigration enforcement tactics has raised concerns about the impacts on immigrant children and their families. Michael Zuch, licensed clinical social worker and a doctoral student at Rutgers University, examines how these federal actions affect children and explores the question of whether they can be considered a form of child abuse.
Upcoming at The Forum
February 22: U.S Immigration Enforcement and Child Abuse Michael Zuch, LCSW, Clinical Social Worker and Ph.D. student at Rutgers University School of Social Work
Watch or listen to The Forum from previous weeks below.
Co-curators Melanie Holcomb and Nancy Thebaut discuss how concepts of gender, sexuality, and love are portrayed in medieval art through this exhibition currently on view at The Cloisters at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Liz Blackler, MBE, LCSW, Program Manager for the Ethics Committee at Memorial Sloan Kettering, looks at the ethical issues that can arise at the end of a human life.
Peter DeMenocal, President and Director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, discusses efforts currently being made to better understand the mysteries of the ocean and the role that ocean-related solutions can play in the fight against...
Julian Wamble, Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University, discusses the role that the Black electorate plays in American elections.
Nearly two decades after its initial publication, parishioner Steve Ross discusses his graphic novel Marked, a subversive, award winning and genre-defying comic based on the Gospel according to Mark.
The Reverend Peter Thompson presents an overview of the Revised Common Lectionary, the system of assigned readings from the Bible that is used at St. Bart’s and throughout the English-speaking world.
On the day her new book, Living Well: Inspired by the Story behind the Bible, is released, Starr Tomczak reflects on how the Bible can help us make sense of our own lives.
Irwin Leopando, St. Bart’s parishioner and Chair of the English Department at LaGuardia Community College, explores the work of educational philosopher Paulo Freire, paying particular attention to its theological implications. His book on...
Attorney and St. Bart's parishioner Elizabeth Kelley reflects on years of experience helping people with mental disabilities navigate the criminal justice system.