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.
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 nonviolence. Please post your questions in the comments section on Facebook or YouTube, or email the Reverend Zack Nyein at
January 26
Parishioner Clay Williams on the emerging challenges posed by artificial intelligence
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.
My Name is Pauli Murray Betsy West, co-director, and Dana DiCarlo, co-executive producer of the documentary My Name is Pauli Murray, talk about the beloved Episcopal priest, lawyer, scholar, poet, and civil rights activist who once attended...
As the United Kingdom prepares for its first coronation in nearly seventy years, Maya Jasanoff, the Coolidge Professor of History at Harvard University, reflects on the role that the British monarchy has played over the past few centuries and...
The Reverend Peter D. Thompson previews the upcoming coronation of Charles III, taking a specific look at the role the Church will play in the festivities.
As he makes his final visitation to St. Bart's, The Right Reverend Andrew M. L. Dietsche reflects on over a decade of service as the Bishop of New York.
The Reverend Dr. Amy Peeler, Associate Professor of New Testament at Wheaton College, outlines what Scripture actually says about the gender of God. Her book, Women and the Gender of God, was released in fall 2022.
Dr. Caroline Walker Bynum, University Professor Emerita at Columbia University and a pioneering scholar of medieval women’s spirituality, highlights the significant impact women made on the Church in the centuries just before the...
Black womanist scholar the Reverend Dr. Eboni Marshall Turman reflects on the intersection of race, gender, and religion. Dr. Turman, one of the first women to serve at Harlem’s famed Abyssinian Baptist Church, is currently Associate...
Atlanta-based Episcopal priest and writer, the Reverend Martha Sterne, shares wisdom from over three decades of ordained ministry, joining in conversation with the Reverend Zack Nyein who grew up as a child in her parish. A celebrated preacher...
How should we make decisions about our giving? What ethical factors are involved? Peter Coy, opinions writer for The New York Times, explores these questions and more in a conversation with The Reverend Peter Thompson.
The following individuals were fully welcomed into the life of St. Bart's during Welcome Sunday on February 12, 2023. We invite you to send them messages of congratulations. Ackeem Duggan I am 31 years old and I am from Jamaica, West Indies. My...
