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, August 17, 2025 Seeing Clearly: Evidence, Intuition, and the Search for the Common Good
In an age of information overload and political polarization, how do we discern what truly serves the common good? CUNY Law professor and St. Bart’s parishioner Ally Coll explores the promises and pitfalls of both evidence-based and intuition-led decision making—in our public life and our personal faith. Please post your questions in the comments section on Facebook or YouTube, or email the Reverend Peter Thompson at
Upcoming Speakers at The Forum
August 24 Gendered Islamophobia: Deconstructing 30 Rights of Muslim Women
With Dr. Daisy Khan
Watch or listen to The Forum from previous weeks below.
At the Forum, Dr. Larry Welborn, Professor of the New Testament at Fordham University, continued to guide us on a multi-week tour through the Nativity narratives of the Gospels, providing his expert historical and spiritual insights, informed by...
Join us in the Great Hall as Dr. Larry Welborn, Professor of the New Testament at Fordham University, continues to guide us on a multi-week tour through the Nativity narratives of the Gospels, providing his expert historical and spiritual...
Today we welcomed Dr. Larry Wellborn, Professor of the New Testament at Fordham University. Over the next few weeks, he will guide us on a tour through the Nativity narratives of the Gospels, providing his expert historical and spiritual...
Forum guest: The Very Rev. Michael Battle, Ph.D., Professor of Church and Society and Director of the Desmond Tutu Center at the General Theological Seminary. With his guidance, we explored the calling to reconciliation and justice in our world...
Priest and author The Rev. Barbara Crafton joined us to discuss her new book, The Also Life. "Most people wonder what the afterlife is like," Crafton writes. "I don't like that term, 'afterlife.' I prefer my own word, 'alsolife.' I’m...
Join us in the Great Hall where our friend Imam Faiyaz Jaffer, member of the Interfaith Center of NYU, will share his hopes and values in the midst of this time of ferment in our city and nation.
Join us in the Great Hall as we welcome the Rev. Dr. Clair McPherson, distinguished Professor of Ascetical Theology at General Theological Seminary here in Manhattan. In lively fashion, he will plumb the deep wisdom of our ancient Christian...
David Lowe, Director of the Beaux Arts Society of New York and longtime member of the Episcopal Church, gives a presentation on the spectacular life and works of the architect of our church, Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue.
St. Bart's and the Arts, Series Conclusion: The Russians are Coming!Interim Rector Bob Dannals will explore two primary and influential Russian writers, Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, with a particular focus on their theology, religious...