The Rector’s Forum | Sundays, 9:30 a.m.
Join us each Sunday for this formation offering, held in the Parish Hall during Kairos, 9:15–10:15 a.m. The Rector’s Forum offers a dialogue-centered event between the guest speaker and a St. Paul’s, Ivy clergy member, with plenty of opportunities for questions and comments from those gathered. Come for our traditional Continental Breakfast and stay for the conversation. (Resumes Sunday, September 15, 2024)
2025 Spring Speaker Schedule
- January 5: Let’s Talk About Music In Church: Planning, Preparing And Executing Our Liturgical Music, with Gabriel Rhys Simerson, St. Paul’s Ivy Director of Music Ministries (watch this recording now)
- January 12: Let’s Talk About St. Paul’s, Ivy: Please plan to join us for the Annual Parish Meeting (watch the recording of the meeting now)
- January 19: Let’s Talk About Restorative Justice: The Death Penalty Killed Jesus And Why It Is Killing Us – The Need For Restorative Justice And Something More Than Punishment, with Sam Heath, Manager of the Equal Justice USA Evangelical Network (watch this recording now)
- January 26: Let’s Talk About the Lessons of Failure: The Art of Learning From Failure – Using Setbacks as Opportunities for Growth and Building Resilience, with Dr. Jeffrey Lovelace, Robert H. Schade Bicentennial Professor, UVA McIntire School of Commerce (watch this recording now)
- February 2: Let’s Talk About Education as a Social Problem: Reframing Public Education And Helping To Change The Culture Of Lower Income Communities, with Price Thomas, Executive Director, City of Promise Charlottesville (watch this recording now)
- February 9: Let’s Talk About Ecumenism: with the Rev. Amanda Kotval, Vice Rector, St. Paul’s, Ivy Episcopal Church (watch this recording now)
- February 16: Let’s Talk About Artificial Intelligence and the Future: Artificial Intelligence And The Future of Capitalism And Democracy, with Dr. Michael Lenox, Professor at UVA Darden School of Business, Batten School of Policy, Miller Center, and Special Advisor to the Provost on Innovation (watch this recording now)
- February 23: Let’s Talk About Fostering A Creative Community: How a Festival About the Future Can Foster Creative Community and Entrepreneurship in Charlottesville, with Paul Beyer, Founder and Executive Director of the Tom Tom Foundation and Tom Tom Festival
- March 9: Let’s Talk About War Readiness: How Our Military Prepares For A Potential Conflict With China Or Russia: A First-Hand Experience Inside US Military Training Operations , with Graham Flanagan, Filmmaker and Chief Video Correspondent for Business Insider
- March 16: Let’s Talk About Patriots, Priests and Rebels: The Struggle To Reconcile Why Devout Christians Who helped Establish The Episcopal Church Of Virginia Were Also Enslavers, with Randy Ruffin, Author
- March 23: Let’s Talk About the Contest For Religious Freedom: The Unknown Role Of Virginia’s Religious Dissenters In Winning The Revolution And Establishing A Strict Separation Of Church And State, with Dr. John Ragosta, Historian and Virginia Humanities Fellow
- March 30: Let’s Talk About Empowering the Incarcerated To Reenter Society: Teaching Inmates Financial Literacy And Business Skills – Resilience Education’s And The Darden School’s Re-entry Program, with Drs. Gregory and Tierney Fairchild, Professor at the Darden School of Business and Executive Director and Co-Founder of Resilience Education
- April 6: Let’s Talk About Understanding Democracy: Is Democracy the Best Form of Government?, with Dr. Barbara Perry, J. Wilson Newman Professor of Governance at the Miller Center
- April 27: Let’s Talk About a Two State Solution For Israelis and Palestinians: Does Middle East Peace Start With a Path to a Palestinian State?, with Mara Rudman, James R. Schlesinger Distinguished Professor at the Miller Center
- May 4: Let’s Talk About Student Mental Health: The War on Stigma – Mental Health IS Health, with Dr. Jason Freeman, Sports Psychologist for the University of Virginia’s Athletic Department
- May 11: Let’s Talk About the Russian Invasion of Ukraine: The Russia-Ukraine War: Causes, Consequences, And Scenarios For A “Way Out” Of The Crisis, with Dr. Yuri Urbanovich, UVA Associate Professor Emeritus of Interdisciplinary Studies, Department of Politics, Department of Slavic Languages and Cultures
- May 18: Let’s Talk About God’s Grace: The Big Relief: The Urgency of Grace For a Worn-Out World, with David Zahl, Author of Numerous Books, and Founder and Director of Mockingbird Ministries
Did you miss a speaker, or want to share one of our Sunday morning conversations with a friend?
Click here to watch PAST Rector’s Forum recordings.
See photos from the Rector’s Forum on our SmugMug photo album site.