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, March 1, 2026
The State of the Clergy
In a changing Church and a challenging world, how are our clergy holding up? The Reverend Dr. Craig Barnes, President Emeritus of Princeton Theological Seminary and Director of the Theologies for Pastoral Ministry project, outlines findings from recent research.
Upcoming at The Forum
Sunday, MARCH 8, 2026
Got Questions? Peter, Zack, and Meredith reflect on the spiritual value of asking questions and address the questions shared this Lent on our community questions wall.
Watch or listen to The Forum from previous weeks below.
Elaine Pagels, a leading scholar of early Christianity and the Harrington Spear Paine Foundation Professor of Religion at Princeton University, outlines the most enigmatic book in the New Testament and the lasting impact it made on politics and...
Heidi Allen, Associate Professor at Columbia School of Social Work, offers insight on how future healthcare policy could better protect the most vulnerable.
Michael Duffy, who as President of the Great Oaks Foundation oversees five public charter schools, explores how an emphasis on tutoring could transform our approach to education.
Bart Ehrman, the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, chronicles the historical development of Christian ideas about the afterlife.
Fred Cerullo, Executive Director of the Grand Central Partnership and a Commissioner on the New York City Planning Commission discusses the future of New York City in the wake of COVID-19.
The Reverend Keith Anderson, author of The Digital Cathedral: Networked Ministry in a Wireless World, talks with Professor J. Patrick Hornbeck II of Fordham University about the future of the Church beyond 2020.
Indigenous People, The Doctrine of Discovery, and the Episcopal Church: On the eve of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, The Episcopal Church’s Indigenous Missioner, The Reverend Dr. Bradley Hauff, examines the Church’s problematic...
David Clough, Professor of Theological Ethics at the University of Chester (UK) and the co-founder of https://www.becreaturekind.org/, outlines the responsibilities Christians have to protect and care for non-human animals.
Cole Arthur Riley, the creator of the Instagram account @blackliturgies, shares some of her beautiful prayers and speaks to the importance of amplifying Black voices in the liturgical life of the Church. https://www.instagram.com/blackliturgies/