The Forum at Grace Cathedral

Many American policy makers are squeamish about religion's role in diplomacy. Nevertheless, religion plays a crucial and complex part in global affairs, such as in sustainable development, various human rights issues, and fomenting and mitigating conflict. Shaun A. Casey, the founding director of the US Department of State's Office of Religion and Global Affairs, makes a compelling case for the ne...

Grace Cathedral, San Francisco   January 21 , 202 4   Join Malcolm Young, Dean of Grace Cathedral, in conversation with leading peace activist, author, and Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Rev. John Dear, talking about his new book,  The Gospel of Peace: A Commentary on Matthew, Mark and Luke from the Perspective of Nonviolence.      "John Dear is one of the few towering figures in the Christian nonviole...

Grace Cathedral, San Francisco November 15, 2023 Poet, speaker, and one of the UK's foremost transgender theologians, Jay Hulme , joined us on a rare visit to the United States. Author of the viral poem ' Jesus at the Gay Bar ,' Jay read from his new collection of poetry,  The Vanishing Song ; shared his vision of cathedrals as queer/trans; and talked about transgender politics across the Atlantic...

San Francisco Contemporary Music Players is performing the Bay Area premiere of  Raven Chacon 's Pulitzer Prize-winning composition,  Voiceless Mass , at Grace Cathedral on November 11, with a preshow talk with Chacon on how music is made.    Chacon is a composer, performer, and installation artist from Fort Defiance, Navajo Nation. His mesmerizing, original work for organ and ensemble,  Voiceless...

Edmund G. Brown Jr. is the son of Governor Pat Brown and great-grandson of August Schuckman , a German immigrant who settled in California during the California Gold Rush. He is the longest serving governor in California history, first elected at 36 years old and again at 72. He has served as Secretary of State, chairman of the state Democratic Party, Mayor of Oakland, and California Attorney Gene...

Edmund G. Brown Jr. is the son of Governor Pat Brown and great-grandson of August Schuckman , a German immigrant who settled in California during the California Gold Rush. He is the longest serving governor in California history, first elected at 36 years old and again at 72. He has served as Secretary of State, chairman of the state Democratic Party, Mayor of Oakland, and California Attorney Gene...

How do we overcome polarization in American society? How do we advocate for justice when one side won't listen to the other and cycles of outrage escalate?     These questions have been pressing for years, but the events of January 6, 2021 and the emergence of a vocal, virulent Christian nationalism have made it even more urgent that we find a way forward.       In her incisive new book, The Psych...

In 2018, the great behavioral scientist Robert Sapolsky came to The Forum to discuss his bestselling book Behave, his now classic account of why humans do good and why they do bad. That program has over 221,000 views.     Now, in his new book Determined , Sapolsky mounts a brilliant (and in his inimitable way, delightful) full-frontal assault on the pleasant fantasy that there is some separate sel...

In the famous photograph of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on the balcony of Memphis's Lorraine Motel, one man kneeled down beside King, trying to staunch the blood from his fatal head wound with a borrowed towel.     This kneeling man was a member of the Invaders, an activist group that was in talks with King in the days leading up to the murder. But he also had another identity: an...

Lee Herrick is California's 10th Poet Laureate, and the first Asian American to serve in the role. A former Fresno Poet Laureate, Herrick's work explores the diversity and vitality of the California experience. Born in Daejeon, South Korea and adopted as an infant, he writes eloquently on the immigrant experience – bringing to life the smell of chapchae and the sound of mariachi trumpets, the farm...

Join us for a special online conversation with The Very Rev. Dr. David Monteith, the dean of Canterbury Cathedral--England's first cathedral.  Canterbury Cathedral is a unique place of worship, a major pilgrimage destination, a masterpiece of art and architecture, and one of the UK's most-visited historic sites. It is the principal seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury who now leads the Church of E...

Kick off Pride Month with a conversation with Nguyen Pham, the first Vietnamese president of San Francisco Pride, the non-profit organization founded to produce the SF Pride Celebration and Parade. SF Pride is a world leader in the global Pride movement and one of the largest LGBTQ+ celebrations in the world. Pham talk s with Grace Cathedral's Canon Pastor, the Rev. Canon Mary Carter Greene, about...

Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with Chinatown Community Ambassador and lifelong activist Rev. Norman Fong. A captivating storyteller and truth-teller, he talks with Vice Dean of Grace Cathedral, Greg Kimura, at The Forum, and preach es from the pulpit at the  Choral Eucharist service , also on May 28 .      About the Guest   The Rev. Norman Fong is the Parish Associat...

The poetry itself sizzles on the page." —  New York Journal of Books     On May 13, Grace Cathedral and the International Readers of Homer present a 10-hour reading of The Iliad , in classicist Caroline Alexander's translation, called a new gold standard by New Criterion . Alexander is also the author of two New York Times bestsellers, The Endurance , a riveting account of Shackleton's famed Antar...

The Abortion Talks is a documentary film about the secret dialogues that took place between pro-life and pro-choice leaders in the Boston area, in the wake of shootings that left employees dead at two clinics. Disillusioned by the rhetoric and postering from both sides, three pro-life and three pro-choice leaders meet secretly to see if together they could fix their broken worlds.       As the tim...

Recently,  the United Nations released a report stating  that the Earth is likely to cross a critical threshold for global warming within the next ten years, and that we need to make an immediate and drastic shift away from fossil fuels to prevent the planet from overheating dangerously beyond that level. As we prepare for major changes in how we live, what can we learn from emerging conversations...

"The awareness that we explore here, the capacity for being more present to the relationships in our lives, is basic to the human experience. Whatever our background, as humans, we share the ability to be more engaged, and to wake up more fully to the moments of our lives."      – from The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness        ...

    We are thrilled to announce the gift to the cathedral of  Our Lady of the Flowers , a photographic work by artist David LaChapelle, which we will be celebrating at an opening reception in the cathedral on March 11 , 2023 . Join Malcolm Clemens Young for a conversation with LaChapelle about the story of Our Lady of the Flowers , and his storied career.     David LaChapelle was born in Connectic...

"Our breath is a beautiful, healing, mysterious gift, and so is this book. I already feel like it's going to change my life." —   Elizabeth Gilbert   There is nothing more essential to our health and well-being than breathing: take air in, let it out, repeat twenty-five thousand times a day. Yet, as a species, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with grave consequences.    James Nes...

St. Augustine is perhaps the most significant Christian thinker after St. Paul. Often pictured by Western painters holding in his hand his heart blazing with passionate love, he consistently and repeatedly insisted―from his earliest writings until close to his death―that the essential characteristic of God is love. Yet he also insisted on the doctrines of original sin and everlasting punishment fo...

Gone With the Wind, a nostalgic tale full of the myths of the Southern belle, Southern culture, 'good food and good manners,' is still the second most popular book in the USA after the Bible. And the story of slavery in America is not over. It lives on in how we speak to one another, in how we treat one another, in how our societies are organized. Our ability to dehumanize one another can be trace...

Awe is mysterious. How do we begin to quantify the goose bumps we feel when we see the Grand Canyon, or the utter amazement when we watch a child walk for the first time? How do you put into words the collective effervescence of standing in a crowd and singing in unison, or the wonder you feel while gazing at centuries-old works of art? Up until fifteen years ago, there was no science of awe, the...

Hosted in partnership with the Northern California Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Foundation, this annual service and Forum conversation gathers local and national interfaith leaders around a theme in Dr. King's life and work. This year's theme is "Freedom, Justice, and Beloved Community." The theme is taken from Coretta King's remarks at the Atlanta grave site of her late husband in 1993,...

One of the United States' most provocative public intellectuals, Dr. Cornel West is a philosopher, social critic, political activist, and a champion for racial justice through the traditions of the black Church, progressive politics, and jazz. He has written and edited over thirty books, including the   classics    Race Matters  and  Democracy Matters . He is a radio host; has appeared in two  Mat...

Join our Dean, Malcolm Clemens Young, and Miguel Bustos, Senior Director for the Center for Social Justice at Glide, and celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a conversation with workers' and civil rights hero and feminist icon Dolores Huerta. Ms. Huerta will also preach at the  11 am Choral Eucharist service .  Dolores Huerta founded the Agricultural Workers Association and launched the National...