Trinity Forum Conversations

From the nation’s founding to today, Americans have wrestled with the question: What role should faith play in a democratic society? Many have argued that we should keep faith and politics separate–that less religion in public life would lead to a more peaceful and unified democratic nation. 

Yet in reality, as religious practice has declined, our nation has grown increasingly polarized, anxious, and unstable. Can faith help us recover the trust and shared purpose that holds our diverse society together?

Our guests in this episode, Matthew Kaemingk and Shadi Hamid, argue that it can. Across their differences in faith, they agree that secularism has deepened our divides. They make the case that there is a hopeful common ground to be found, and that the resources of faith can help us rebuild our commitment to democracy.

This episode is drawn from an Online Conversation in 2026. You can view the video and other resources here!

Go deeper into the issues discussed in this podcast with these Trinity Forum Readings:

Sphere Sovereignty Abraham Kuyper
City of God St Augustine of Hippo
Letter from Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King, Jr.
Children of Light & the Children of Darkness Reinhold Niebuhr

What happens when the things we thought we knew no longer seem to hold? When the maps we’ve relied upon fail us, and even our best efforts to understand the world leave us feeling disoriented?

For philosopher, author, and Trinity Forum friend James K. A. Smith, these questions became deeply personal during a season of suffering that challenged his confidence in the power of reason. In his recent book, Make Your Home in This Luminous Dark, Smith draws on the wisdom of Christian mystics. He explores how uncertainty, suffering, and even darkness might become unexpected pathways to wonder, wisdom, and a deeper awareness of God's love.

In this conversation, Smith reflects on the limits of knowledge, the spiritual gifts of contemplation and modern art, and what ancient wisdom might teach us about navigating an anxious and divided age. You can find the video & other resources here.

Go deeper into the issues discussed in this podcast with these Trinity Forum Readings:

The Confessions of Saint Augustine (introduced by Smith)
Revelations of Divine Love Julian of Norwich
Wrestling with God Simone Weil
On Happiness Thomas Aquinas
The City of God Saint Augustine

The American Revolution took place against a backdrop of long religious conflict in both Europe and the colonies. Yet despite their personal flaws and their varied faith views, the Founders embraced the radical principle of freedom of conscience and religious expression, instilling it not only in our Constitution, but in the fabric of our society. What is the story behind this extraordinary development? And what does this legacy of religious pluralism mean for Christians in the much more complex America of 2026?

As we celebrate America’s founding in this 250th anniversary year, we’ll discuss this story and what it means for us today with Trinity Forum Senior Fellow David French. As a longtime religious freedom litigator before becoming a New York Times columnist, he’ll guide us in considering the discussions during the founding, and their implications for today.

As background for the conversation, check out our recent Trinity Forum Reading: George Washington and the First Freedom, featuring the first President’s powerful statements on freedom of conscience.

This episode was recorded as a Trinity Forum Online Conversation in 2026. You can view the transcript and other resources here.

Special thanks to Interfaith America for supporting this episode.

What does it mean to truly see? In a world that rewards speed, certainty, and quick judgment, the patient work of attention can feel almost countercultural. Yet learning to see clearly—to notice beauty, to attend to the people before us, and to look beyond our assumptions—may be essential to learning how to love well.

The Victorian artist and missionary Lilias Trotter devoted her life to just this kind of attention. Though a gifted painter said she could become one of the greatest artists of her generation, Trotter instead chose a quieter and more hidden path.

Author and artist Jennifer Trafton’s latest book, “If We Could Only See,” traces the remarkable life and legacy of Lillias Trotter. She joined Cherie for a conversation about what Lillias can teach us about seeing the world—and one another—with greater patience, humility, imagination, and love.

This episode was also recorded in-person and the video will be available on our Youtube here!

How do we live a life of meaning, in a time when so many competing voices tell us who to be, what to want, and how to live? Told to construct meaning for ourselves, we find anxiety instead of wisdom, and exhaustion instead of clarity. For the decisions we face each day, we need insight.

In this episode we’re joined by Alan Noble. “Practical Wisdom for Moving Through Chaotic Times” is the subtitle of his new book, To Live Well. Alan will help us locate answers for our lives today – and for those we love – by exploring seven virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, faith, hope, and love.

This episode was recorded as a Trinity Forum Online Conversation in 2026. You can view the transcript and other resources here

Go deeper into the issues discussed in this Podcast with these Trinity Forum Readings:
Why Work Dorothy L. Sayers
How Much Land Does a Man Need? Leo Tolstoy
Brave New World Aldous Huxley
Two Old Men Leo Tolstoy

The relationship of Christian believers to government has long been fraught, from Jesus’ time to today. The command to love God, our neighbor, even our enemies can flatly contradict the world’s exaltation of power and domination, and the obligations that attend citizenship in the kingdom of God are often in tension with those of the kingdom of man. Reconciling Paul’s reminder to the Philippians that our citizenship is in heaven with his admonition in Romans 13 to respect governing authorities is often less than clear cut. What are our obligations as citizens in a fallen world?

Trinity Forum Senior Fellow Russell Moore joins us to delve into these hard questions. You may find his timely piece in Christianity Today, “Christians, Let’s Stop Abusing Romans 13,” a helpful read to accompany this conversation.

This podcast episode is drawn from an Online Conversation in 2026. You can view the transcript and other resources here. Also! Renovaré is hosting its annual Book Club — four books read in community from October to May, guided by scholars and authors, with weekly podcast conversations and discussion groups. This season's lineup and registration: https://renovare.org/bookclub

Go deeper into the issues discussed in this episode with these Trinity Forum Readings:

• Letter From Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Who Stands Fast? by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• City of God by St. Augustine
• Politics, Morality, & Civility by Václav Havel

We want the thousands of hours we work over our lifetime to matter. But how do we make them truly significant? What can infuse our lives, our offices, and our world with meaning?

Today’s guest is the business leader and author Barry Rowan. He contends, “We don’t derive meaning from our work; we bring meaning to our work.” With stories from his life in high-ranking roles, he helps us go from being defined by what we do, to having our work become an expression of who we are.

This episode is drawn from an Online Conversation in 2026. You can view the transcript and other resources here

Go deeper into the issues discussed in this episode with these Trinity Forum Readings:

• Why Work Dorothy L. Sayers 
• How Much Land Does a Man Need? Leo Tolstoy
• Brave New World Aldous Huxley
• Two Old Men Leo Tolstoy

The term “baptized imagination” has come to the fore of Christian discussion in recent years, and this recent episode considers what a baptized imagination can actually look like.

In the Christian tradition, baptism represents a journey of death and resurrection. In order for there to be a rebirth of truth, goodness, and beauty in us, what other imaginations must we leave behind? And what can bring about this change? 

Our guides in this episode, Mia Chung and Malcolm Guite, are extraordinary. Mia is a concert pianist, now based at MIT where she leads the Octet Collaborative, a Christian study center. Malcolm is an acclaimed poet and Anglican priest based at Cambridge, and has begun to publish a multi-volume epic poem on the Arthurian legends–-you can find our episode with Malcolm on the first book of this epic at the link in the show notes. 

This is the kind of conversation that our community of Trinity Forum Senior Fellows foster: cross-discipline discussion rooted in the Christian tradition.

This episode was recorded live at the 2025 gathering of the Trinity Forum Senior Fellows in Washington, DC, which was convened with the generous support of the John Templeton Foundation. Our moderator is Trinity Forum President Cherie Harder.

Go deeper into the topics discussed with these Trinity Forum Readings:

Spirit and Imagination by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (introduced by Malcolm Guite)
Letters from Vincent van Gogh
Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot
Into the Wasteland by Malcolm Guite
Painting as a Pastime by Winston Churchill

Take Up the Tale: Bringing the Epic Tradition Into Our Time with Malcolm Guite

We are subjected to the temptations of confusion, cynicism, and nihilism like never before. So many pressures, including new ones, seemingly by the day, push us in these directions. What formative things can we do to help ourselves and our society be a part of a hopeful story instead?

Two of our Trinity Forum Senior Fellows, psychiatrist Curt Thompson and columnist David French, come from different disciplines, but in this episode, they provide complementary insights into the hopeful practices of thought and action we're all looking for.

This episode was recorded live at the 2025 gathering of the Trinity Forum Senior Fellows in Washington, DC, which was convened with the generous support of the John Templeton Foundation. The moderator is Trinity Forum President Cherie Harder.

Go deeper into the topics discussed with these Trinity Forum Readings:

The Federalist Papers (with an introduction by David French)
The Purchase of a Soul by Victor Hugo
Politics, Morality, & Civility by Václav Havel
On Friendship by Marcus Tullius Cicero

Beauty is often dismissed as a luxury—something secondary to the urgent work of repair. But what if beauty is not peripheral, but essential to healing what is broken?

Trinity Forum Senior Fellow Makoto Fujimura and Haejin Shim Fujimura will be our guides on this question, discussing their new book, Beauty and Justice: Creating a Life of Abundance and Courage. Drawing on their work in the arts and global advocacy, they will consider how cultivating beauty can help us to sustain courage, foster resilience, and contribute to the pursuit of justice.

This episode is drawn from an Online Conversation in 2026. You can view the transcript and other resources here.

Go deeper into the issues discussed in yesterday's Online Conversation with these Trinity Forum Readings:

• Babette's Feast; Isak Dinesen  (Introduction by Makoto Fujimura)
• Four Quartets; T.S. Eliot (Also introduced by Makoto Fujimura)
• Letters of Vincent Van Gogh
• Revelations of Divine Love; Julian of Norwich
• Painting as a Pasttime; Winston Churchill