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.
Computer scientist and St. Bart’s parishioner Clay Williams offers insights into how Artificial Intelligence (AI) works and the challenges it presents around consciousness, morality, and spirituality. Please post your questions in the comments section on Facebook or YouTube, or email the Reverend Peter Thompson at
February 2
Yale Divinity School and Institute of Sacred Music Professor Melanie Ross on the connection between liturgy and everyday life
February 9
Author and academic Isaac Sharp on the changing landscape of American evangelicalism
Watch or listen to The Forum from previous weeks below.
Karuna Mantena, Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, discusses Mahatma Gandhi's influence on the thinking of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the connection they both perceived between social change and...
Forum guest: The Very Rev. Michael Battle, Ph.D., Professor of Church and Society and Director of the Desmond Tutu Center at the General Theological Seminary. With his guidance, we explored the calling to reconciliation and justice in our world...
Priest and author The Rev. Barbara Crafton joined us to discuss her new book, The Also Life. "Most people wonder what the afterlife is like," Crafton writes. "I don't like that term, 'afterlife.' I prefer my own word, 'alsolife.' I’m...
Join us in the Great Hall where our friend Imam Faiyaz Jaffer, member of the Interfaith Center of NYU, will share his hopes and values in the midst of this time of ferment in our city and nation.
Join us in the Great Hall as we welcome the Rev. Dr. Clair McPherson, distinguished Professor of Ascetical Theology at General Theological Seminary here in Manhattan. In lively fashion, he will plumb the deep wisdom of our ancient Christian...
Deirdre Cornell shares a theological and pastoral presentation featuring the work of her book Jesus was a Migrant, published by Orbis.
David Lowe, Director of the Beaux Arts Society of New York and longtime member of the Episcopal Church, gives a presentation on the spectacular life and works of the architect of our church, Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue.
St. Bart's and the Arts, Series Conclusion: The Russians are Coming!Interim Rector Bob Dannals will explore two primary and influential Russian writers, Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, with a particular focus on their theology, religious...
The Art of St. Bart’s Chapel IIThe Rev. Matthew Moretz led a lively exploration of the hidden symbolism and spiritual meaning of the stained glass and carvings of our stunning chapel.
Modeling the Faith: Susan Howatch’s Starbridge Novels as Theology in ActionPopular novelist Susan Howatch’s six linked novels set in the fictional cathedral City of Starbridge dramatically depict clerical life from 1937 through the...
Patrick Bergquist, Director of Children, Youth, and Family Ministries, walked us through the history and uses of icons. Icons have aided in the prayer life of the church for hundreds of years. In the Forum we took a look at ways that this...
