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, April 27 The Clergy of St. James’s Piccadilly: Ministry Across the Atlantic
The clergy of St. James’s Piccadilly, our partner parish in London, talk with the clergy of St. Bart’s about their remarkable community and their link with St. Bart’s.
Upcoming Speakers at The Forum
May 4Reading the Bible With Your Feet: The Place of Scripture in 21st Century Life
The Reverend Lucy Winkett, Rector of St. James’s Piccadilly in London, reflects on the ongoing relevance of the Bible in modern times.
May 11 Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, author of The Undocumented Americans, on the immigrant experience
May 18 David Blankenhorn, co-founder of Braver Angels, on political polarization
May 25 The Reverend Canon Stephanie Spellers, Assisting Priest, on a non-religious generation and the future of faith
June 1 The Right Reverend Matthew F. Heyd, Bishop of New York on this moment of transition for St. Bart's
June 8 The Reverend Canon Leyla King, Canon for Mission in Small Congregations, Episcopal Diocese of West Texas, on war in Gaza
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.
Join us for our first live, in-person Forum in over 18 months! The Forum will also be livestreamed for those who prefer to tune in remotely.
The Reverend Kenneth Brannon, Vice Rector, St. Michael and All Angels Church, Dallas, Texas, explores...
As we mark the 20th anniversary of September 11, 2001, and mourn the millions who have already died as part of the COVID-19 pandemic, psychologist and psychotherapist Dorothy P. Holinger, Ph.D. explains how grief works and offers suggestions on...
Come Labor On: Reflections on Labor Day
On Labor Day weekend, the Reverend Richard Witt, Executive Director of Rural Migrant Ministry, reflects on the experience and needs of farmworkers in New York State and the importance of advocating for all...
Author Dr. Beth-Sarah Wright draws on her latest book Dignity: Seven Strategies for Creating Authentic Community to explore how our institutions, in the words of our Baptismal Covenant, can better “respect the dignity of every human...
The renowned English poet-priest Malcolm Guite reads poems from his latest collection, David’s Crown: Sounding the Psalms, and offers a meditation on how the Good News of Jesus can be found in King David’s songs.
Despite the perceived secularization of society during the twentieth century, it was actually an age of extraordinary revival for religiously based music. The New Yorker’s music critic Alex Ross shares thoughts on some favorite sacred works...
Writer Rainesford Stauffer reflects on the experience of young adults in contemporary society. How can they find satisfaction in the ordinary when they are constantly pressured to strive for something more?
Frank Collerius and Crystal Chen, co-hosts of the New York Public Library’s podcast The Librarian Is In, offer summer reading recommendations and address questions about reading, libraries, and books.
Rami Ehlhanan, who lost a daughter in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, shares his story and reflects on the importance of dialogue, reconciliation, and peace. Rami is a member of The Parents Circle-Families Forum, a joint Israeli-Palestinian...
Our newest clergyperson, the Reverend Meredith Ward, Interim Associate Rector, explores the story of Mary Magdalene through art and scripture and examines how early interpretations of her have shaped our current understanding of this first...