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...
The Lessons of the Wilderness (Part 4—Sojourning in the Wilderness: Perseverance with Confidence)
At the present moment, many Christians feel that they are “in the wilderness”: church membership is declining and talk about...
The Reverend Dr. Dan Matthews, the retired Rector of Trinity Church Wall Street, has served the Episcopal Church with distinction for decades. What is so great about our denomination? Hear the perspective of someone who knows it very well.
The Lessons of the WildernessPart 2—Jesus in the Wilderness: Responding to God’s Call At the present moment, many Christians feel that they are “in the wilderness”: church membership is declining and talk about...
The Lessons of the WildernessPart 1: The Wilderness Generation: Disenthralling Ourselves from IdolatryAt the present moment, many Christians feel that they are “in the wilderness”: church membership is declining and talk about...
Transforming Lives, Transforming the Church, Transforming the World: The State of St. Bart’s 2019
On Celebration Sunday, as our program year begins, Bishop Dean Wolfe offers an overview of where St. Bart’s is and where it will be...
Pilgrimage Then and Now: Paul’s Journey to Ephesus, and MineIn the Acts of the Apostles, Paul travels to the Greek city of Ephesus, spreading the Good News of Jesus, baptizing new believers and healing the sick. He also came into conflict...
Let my People Go: Liberation in the Bible
The Israelites escape from Egypt; the sick are healed; Jesus triumphs over death and sin: throughout the Bible, people experience liberation -- freedom from all that oppresses them and holds them back...