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, June 1, 2025 The Renewal of the Church for the Healing of the World: Why the Story of Church Decline is Wrong
The Reverend Canon Leyla King, a Palestinian American priest and the author of the forthcoming memoir Daughters of Palestine, provides a way in to the conversation about the current realities in the Holy Land through the lens of her family’s experiences as Palestinian Christians.
June 15 Jon Key, author of Black, Queer & Untold, on art, sexuality, and race
June 22 Jacqueline Goldsby, Professor of African-American Studies and English at Yale University, and Charles Cuykendall Carter, Assistant Curator at New York Public Library, on James Baldwin
June 29 The Reverend Mihee Kim-Kort, co-pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Annapolis, Maryland, on queerness and faith
Watch or listen to The Forum from previous weeks below.
Dr. Elizabeth Schrader Polczer discusses her groundbreaking research on Martha of Bethany in the Gospel of John and intriguing new insight on the identity of Mary Magdalene.
The Right Reverend Dean Wolfe and The Reverend Meredith Ward discuss the Surgeon General’s report on the epidemic of loneliness in our nation and what steps we can take to build more connection.
The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe and St. Bart’s staff members Bailey Regan and Teagan Sage reflect on their time at the 81st General Convention of The Episcopal Church.
Jesuit priest Father James Martin, SJ offers powerful insights from the story of the raising of Lazarus. His book Come Forth: The Promise of Jesus' Greatest Miracle was released in fall 2023.
Writer Jonathan Merritt, who often reflects on topics at the intersection of sexuality and religion, discusses the relationship between his Christian faith and his identity as an openly gay man. Merritt is the author, most recently, of the...
The Atlantic Senior Editor Vann R. Newkirk II discusses the importance of Black History today, why memory is one of the most important parts of imagining the future, and the role of the journalist when media is in crisis.
The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe and the Reverend Canon Stephanie Spellers preview the Episcopal Church's upcoming General Convention in Louisville, Kentucky.
Lisa Miller, Professor of Psychology and Education at Teachers College and Founder of the Spirituality, Mind, Body Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University, shares insights on the spirituality of children and adolescents.
As wars rage on in Ukraine, in the Middle East, and throughout the world, Walter Dorn, Professor of Defence Studies at the Canadian Forces College and the Royal Military College in Toronto, offers some Memorial Day reflections on the ethics of war.