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...
The Reverend Jarel Robinson-Brown, Curate of St. Botolph-without-Aldgate in London, talks about why our body and God's body matter to our spiritual life and journey into wholeness.
The Reverend Canon Stephanie Spellers and the Reverend Zack Nyein reflect on the Episcopal Church's four day “festival for the Jesus movement” held recently in Baltimore.
Liz Reiner Platt, Director of the Law, Rights, and Religion Project at Columbia Law School, discusses current legal trends in religious liberty law, especially from a progressive perspective. Though “religious freedom” most commonly...
University of Michigan musicologist Mark Clague, author of the book O Say Can You Hear? A Cultural Biography of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” discusses Americans’ changing relationship with their national anthem.
The Right Reverend Deon Johnson, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri, reflects on his experience as the first openly gay Black bishop in The Episcopal Church and the ways in which the Church is still working towards the full inclusion of...
Film Director Yuval David and Executive Producer Mark McDermott discuss their new documentary, Wonderfully Made, which explores the challenges of LGBTQ+ Roman Catholics. The film is accompanied by an art project, which aims to expand the viewers...
The Reverend Robbie Pennoyer, Head of Lower Manhattan’s Grace Church School, reflects on the state of our young people and the role that faith can play in their lives.
Roxanne Stone and Katelyn Beaty, co-hosts of the podcast Saved by the City, both grew up in white evangelical America and now live in New York City. Together they examine Christianity, evangelicalism, and other religious topics from the...
Evangeline Warren, who grew up at St. Bart’s, talks about the emerging role of young adults within the Episcopal Church. Eva, the daughter of Mary Abraham and Rob Radtke, is currently working towards her Ph.D. in sociology at Ohio State...
The Reverend Canon Faiz Basheer Jerjes, the priest of St. George’s Church in Baghdad, speaks about conditions on the ground in Iraq and the difficult work of serving as a Christian leader there. Thank you to Stand With Iraqi Christians for...
