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...
A special Forum series on the so-called “cardinal virtues” and how to pursue them in everyday life. Today: Fortitude and Hope, with the Rev. Lynn C. Sanders.
A special Forum series on the so-called “cardinal virtues” and how to pursue them in everyday life. Today: Reconciliation, with The Rev. John Wirenius.
A special Forum series on the so-called “cardinal virtues” and how to pursue them in everyday life. Today: Temperance with The Very Rev. Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, Th.D.
Living the Virtues: A special Forum series on the so-called “cardinal virtues” and how to pursue them in everyday life. Today: Bob Dannals on the virtues of courage and perseverance.
Forum handout
The trafficking of women and girls for sex is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world, yet it is an issue that remains in the shadows. Many believe sex trafficking is taking place only abroad, or falsely believe that individuals...
On January 17, at the Forum, the Rector Search Committee shared the results of the parish surveys and roundtables. Click above for the copy of the PowerPoint presentation and an audio recording of the Forum.
“What Contributes to Spiritual Growth? What Gets in the Way?: Learnings from Episcopal (and Other) Churches.” A Forum with Jay Sidebotham, Director of RenewalWorks, a Ministry of Forward Movement
Jay’s work with Forward...
Do family interactions sometimes leave you wondering, “What just happened here?” Are you hoping to find a different, more satisfying way of relating for 2016? The Rev. Lynn Sanders presented a timely review of Bowen family systems...
Who Was Expected: What Did We Get?
Our Interim Rector, the Rev. Dr. Bob Dannals, explored the three major themes of messianic expectation in first-century Israel, and then what happened in Bethlehem and beyond.
Download the handout from...