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, September 13, 2026 Understanding Ourselves in the Age of AI
Dr. Clay Williams, a St. Bart’s parishioner who completed his dissertation on artificial intelligence, contemplates the impact that AI is making on our efforts to understand ourselves.
Upcoming at The Forum
Sunday, September 20: Women, Art, God
The Reverend Dr. Ayla Lepine, Associate Rector of St. James’s Piccadilly, introduces her new book which lies at the intersection of feminism, art, and theology.
September 27 Christian Nationalism in the UK The Reverend Lucy Winkett, Rector of St. James’s Piccadilly, looks at Christian nationalism within the United Kingdom, contending that it represents both a political problem and a theological one.
October 4 Flood Filmmaker Katy Scoggin tells a very personal story about dialogue across difference ahead of a screening of her new documentary.
October 11 Eleanor Roosevelt’s Nightly Prayer: The Religious Life of the First Lady of the World Author Donn Mitchell examines the ways in which Eleanor Roosevelt’s faith informed her work and her life.
October 25 Caleb Maglaya Galaraga, journalist, The Living Church
November 1 Paul, Democracy, and the Corinthians Larry Welborn, Professor Emeritus at Fordham University, highlights democratic impulses within the early Church and the New Testament.
Watch or listen to The Forum from previous weeks below.
The Right Reverend Mary Glasspool reflects on the role that technology should play in the life of the Church as it emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. Please post your questions for our speaker in the comments section...
The Great Organ of St. Bartholomew’sDays before a St. Bart’s Conservancy gala concert featuring our celebrated Great Organ, Dr. Paolo Bordignon, Organist and Choirmaster, outlines the history and characteristics of the instrument and...
Course Resources
The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast
Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed on Discovery+
Database of Megachurches in the United States (Hartford Seminary)
Megachurch 2020: The Changing Reality in America's Largest Churches by...
Moving Up and Graduation Sunday is May 8, 2022 (Mothers' Day). This year we will recognize graduating seniors with a special blessing and a gift from St. Bart's, in addition to highlighting them in the worship leaflet. Please complete the...
Funeral Planning for Invincible People (Who Have No Time to Die)
Amy Cunningham, Owner of Fitting Tribute Funeral Services, helps us think about a topic we often avoid--our own deaths--and guides us in the important work of preparing...
Values, Vision, and Belonging: How to Reckon with the Climate Emergency
Karenna Gore, the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary, returns to St. Bart's to discuss the ongoing climate...
4/3 A Rabbi and A Priest in Conversation
As Easter and Passover both approach, The Reverend Meredith Ward speaks with Rabbi Sarah Berman, Director of Adult Education at Central Synagogue, about the connections between Christianity and Judaism...
Donald Romanik, St. Bart's parishioner, President of The Episcopal Church Foundation and author of Money Legacies, calls us to recognize and reconsider the ways in which we were taught to think about money as children...
Whether secular or spiritual, simple or spectacular, remixed or traditional, rituals are powerful tools for deepening the experience of life. And yet they’re widely misunderstood and vastly underutilized, even in our religious institutions...