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.
The Forum is on hiatus for Independence Day weekend. In its place, join the clergy of St. Bart's for an in-person conversation about what it means to love our country in times like these. A virtual version of the conversation will be held on Zoom after the 11 am service. If you can't join us in person, please register for the Zoom call below.
Please post your questions in the comments section on Facebook or YouTube, or email the Reverend Peter Thompson at
Ethnomusicologist and St. Bart's parishioner Margaret Farrell reflects on how music can lift spirits in difficult times.
Watch or listen to The Forum from previous weeks below.
A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights HistoryWe think we know the story of the Civil Rights Movement: the United States was segregated; Martin Luther King, Jr. fixed it through love and nonviolence; he...
The Not-So-Separation of Church and State: Emma Green on the Intersection of Religion and PoliticsEmma Green, a staff writer at the Atlantic and one of the best journalists working at the intersection of these two hot-button issues, reflects with...
Fresh, clean water in sufficient quantity for daily living is transforming in many parts of the world. Nowhere is this more true than in Africa. Eleven years ago the Parish of St. Bartholomew’s Church initiated the funding for a water...
Once in Royal David’s City: The History of Christmas Lessons and CarolsJust before St. Bart’s first-ever service of Christmas lessons and carols, Associate Rector for Formation and Liturgy Peter Thompson takes a look at how the...
The Crisis of Human Trafficking, Part 2 of 2: Why All Our Children are Vulnerable and How to Protect Them Each year thousands of children, average age of 11-15, are trafficked right here from our own communities in and around NYC. A growing...
What Does the Lord Require?: Bishop Gene Robinson on Faith and JusticeIn 2003, the Right Reverend Gene Robinson made headlines when he was elected the Bishop of New Hampshire, making him the first openly gay person to be elected a bishop in...
The Lessons of the Wilderness (Part 5—The Struggle Continues: Revelation 12)At the present moment, many Christians feel that they are “in the wilderness”: church membership is declining and talk about Christianity is vanishing...
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...
