Church Tomorrow?: What Nones and Dones Teach Us About the Future of Faith
The Reverend Canon Stephanie Spellers, Assisting Priest, draws on the experiences of those at the Church’s periphery in her effort to chart a future for faith itself.
Every Sunday at 10 am
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, June 1, 2025
The Renewal of the Church for the Healing of the World: Why the Story of Church Decline is Wrong
The Right Reverend Matthew F. Heyd, Bishop of New York, offers his thoughts on the renewal that is already happening within the Church.
Upcoming Speakers at The Forum
June 8
A Personal Story of Palestine
The Reverend Canon Leyla King, a Palestinian American priest and the author of the forthcoming memoir Daughters of Palestine, provides a way in to the conversation about the current realities in the Holy Land through the lens of her family’s experiences as Palestinian Christians.
June 15 Jon Key, author of Black, Queer & Untold, on art, sexuality, and race
June 22 Jacqueline Goldsby, Professor of African-American Studies and English at Yale University, and Charles Cuykendall Carter, Assistant Curator at New York Public Library, on James Baldwin
June 29 The Reverend Mihee Kim-Kort, co-pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Annapolis, Maryland, on queerness and faith
Watch or listen to The Forum from previous weeks below.
Featured
Reflection, Renewal, and New Year's Resolutions
01.02.22 | Articles | The Forum
Reflection, Renewal, and New Year's Resolutions Dr. Patricia Tidwell, PhD, LCSW, a psychotherapist and St. Bart's parishioner, returns to The Forum to talk about healthy ways of approaching a New Year.
Magnificat: The Song of Mary Through the Centuries
12.19.21 | Articles | The Forum
For over a thousand years, the song that a pregnant Mary sings while visiting her relative Elizabeth has played a central role in Christian liturgy. Knox Sutterfield, Director of the Florilegium Chamber Choir on the Upper West Side and the...
An Advent Reflection on the Logos Hymn
12.12.21 | Articles | The Forum
An Advent Reflection on the Logos Hymn The Logos Hymn in the Gospel of John professes Jesus to be the Divine Word who created the world and in time came into it as the light shines in the darkness. Why did the Divine Word become incarnate and...
Exploring Dimensions of Spirituality and Dementia
12.05.21 | Articles | The Forum
Sunday, December 5, 2021 Exploring Dimensions of Spirituality and Dementia The Reverend Lynn Casteel Harper, the Minister of Older Adults at The Riverside Church and author of On Vanishing: Mortality, Dementia, and What It Means to...
Radical Welcome 2021: Updating a Classic, Recommitting to the Dream
11.21.21 | Articles | The Forum
The Reverend Canon Stephanie Spellers, Canon to the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church and Assisting Priest at St. Bart’s, who wrote Radical Welcome: Embracing God, the Other, and the Spirit of Transformation fifteen years ago, takes...
Seeking Everyday Faith with Thomas Merton
11.14.21 | Articles | The Forum
Author Sophfronia Scott shares her deep dive into the private journals of the famous Trappist monk, and the connection she found in his pages that led to her book The Seeker and the Monk: Everyday Conversations with Thomas...
Dona Eis Requiem: Maurice Duruflé’s Masterpiece and the Act of Remembering the Dead
11.07.21 | Articles | The Forum
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...
Día de los Muertos
10.31.21 | Articles | The Forum
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
10.24.21 | Articles | The Forum
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...
The Work of Healing in the COVID-19 Pandemic
10.17.21 | Articles | The Forum
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...