Leap of Faith Resources

The Colossian Forum works with people to cultivate connection across differences. We teach leaders how to proactively identify and lean into potential areas of conflict—and how to better care for people when conflict arises.

The Colossian Forum works with individuals, churches, schools, nonprofits, or other types of organizations to create healthy conflict cultures. We offer organizational workshops and training, plenary talks, individual coaching, small group discussion guides, and online courses to demonstrate how conflict can strengthen our connection to one another. You can learn more by visiting our website.

The Colossian Forum is non-partisan and non-denominational.

Our work is driven by the promise of Colossians 1:17, that “all things hold together in Christ”—including the Church. We have a deep desire to follow Jesus’ commands in Mark 12:30-31: “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

The Colossian Forum exists not to define or persuade an individual’s belief on social issues, but rather to use conflict as a driver for connection and growth. We facilitate open dialogue, fostering an environment where they are encouraged to see the reflection of God in themselves and each other, allowing themselves to be drawn by the Holy Spirit of self-giving love into empathic and understanding connections. Our work lifts from a deep well of spiritual insights and biblical practices, inviting people into shared experiences that surface hope and a collective sense of purpose as the image of God is revealed in ourselves and our neighbors.

No. While our methodologies are biblically-based, The Colossian Forum works with any individual or group who wants a new normal and to hold the tension of conflict with love and not walk away.

The Colossian Forum is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Individual donors and foundations support the development and deployment of our programs and research.

No. While The Colossian Forum is an active participant in the movie, we did not commission nor fund Leap of Faith.

Leap of Faith Producer Morgan Neville and Director Nicholas Ma approached The Colossian Forum in 2021 to inquire about our participation in this movie. Morgan read about The Colossian Forum in a December 2020 Wall Street Journal article, and had a desire to understand whether humans can disagree and still belong to each other in a divided world. As we learned more about Morgan and Nicholas, we discovered their intent was authentic and their questions came from a place of curiosity, love, and respect, which are important values at The Colossian Forum. We ultimately said “yes” to participating because we felt the movie could bring a message of hope, show the beauty that can emerge in conflicted spaces, and demonstrate that faith communities have an extraordinarily important and positive role to play in our time of deep national polarization.

We believe Leap of Faith is a beautiful and important movie for today’s culture. While the movie does not speak for The Colossian Forum, it does speak to us, deeply. With the filmmakers, we share a deep desire for mutual belonging, and the film articulates that longing beautifully. We hope this movie will light a fire for that belonging. We hope that each viewer will find their way into that possibility by journeying into greater love of God and love of neighbor and the transcendent love found there.

While we believe Leap of Faith is a beautiful representation of the longing for mutual belonging that we all hold, the movie does not speak fully to or for the work of The Colossian Forum. Although The Colossian Forum facilitated a safe and inviting environment that encouraged participants in the movie to engage in deep and rich conversation, Leap of Faith articulates the personal and particular journeys and beliefs of those in the movie, including our president, and does not define the non-partisan, non-denominational principles of The Colossian Forum.

Our mission at The Colossian Forum is to equip Christians to think, act, and lead more like Jesus in the midst of conflict in their families, communities, churches, and institutions. Each individual in The Colossian Forum, including Michael, has a position and has to be held accountable to love of God and neighbor. We believe we can engage in conflict when Christ is the one holding all things together. Michael wholeheartedly supports The Colossian Forum’s mission and holds a deep desire to help individuals and organizations move toward a deeper love of God and neighbor as he is also doing in his own life.

The Christian leaders in the movie were chosen by The Colossian Forum. We sought a diverse group of individuals located in the Grand Rapids area who had a genuine desire to seek authentic relationships with others despite their differences. We brought them together so that they might learn to love each other despite their differences, and also bring a healthier conflict culture back to their institutions, which are divided by many of the same conflicts that the pastors themselves grappled with within the movie.

We are proud of all the pastors who courageously participated in this movie. While each of the pastors experienced a variety of emotions and were challenged in their walk toward a deeper love of God and neighbor, none regret participating in Leap of Faith. The pastors you see on screen developed an authentic love for one another despite their differences and continue in fellowship to this day. They are grateful that the movie brought them into one another’s lives and can stand as a testimony to the worthwhile work of showing up and continuing the hard work of Christian conflict transformation. They believe the movie will be a catalyst for conversations with their congregations and communities that are often difficult to initiate.

The movie tells a story, and every story is only one part of the truth of what really happened. As the director, Nicholas Ma included interactions he felt were most important for viewers. It takes a long time to build relationships of mutuality and trust, especially across deep differences that often remain unresolved. The filmmakers shot over 300 hours of footage, which was condensed into this roughly 90-minute film. Most of that footage is of the pastors building relationships that could sustain the kinds of challenges you witnessed. The pastors involved represented all sides of issues and a variety of conversations and perspectives were discussed off-camera. Even with these robust discussions, no individual walked away from the experience with a changed position on a single issue, rather they simply changed how they talk about their position as they move toward a deeper love of God and neighbor.

The decision to include Michael’s kids in Leap of Faith was made jointly by the Gulker family after much discussion and prayer. Michael and his wife spoke extensively with their kids about the realities of the project, and in the end, it was the children’s decision to be involved. They chose to be involved because they hope their journeys could help others.

We encourage you to read the bios of each of the individuals featured in Leap of Faith on our website and also subscribe to our podcast, Practicing Hope. On the podcast, we speak with the leaders featured in the movie and have honest and courageous discussions about some of the most difficult and messy issues currently dividing humanity. Much like the movie, the deep and rich conversations you’ll hear on the podcast are a beautiful representation of a new appreciation for people who see things differently and the longing for mutual belonging that we all hold. Our ultimate desire is that this podcast helps you embrace your curiosity and learn to love and respect one another even in disagreement.

No, The Colossian Forum has not changed. We remain committed to helping people better understand one another by using conflict as a driver for connection and growth. We believe Leap of Faith is a tool for our continued work. So many current movies and perspectives focus on the things that divide us, on the hopelessness many of us feel, and on the impossibility of shared community—these can leave us mired in despair. Leap of Faith takes a stand in a very different direction and offers hope. We believe this is a critical movie for our divided world and hope it encourages viewers to understand more about our work of conflict transformation and how we bring people who have participated in our programs into a shared community across differences.