A month before one of the most contentious elections in American history, a new film by director Nicholas Ma, Leap of Faith, produced by acclaimed filmmaker Morgan Neville, explores the possibility of bridging political and ideological differences among religious leaders committed to widely polarized views.
Ma brought together 12 Christian pastors from Grand Rapids, Michigan, representing diverse denominations and beliefs. These faith leaders reflect the broad spectrum of ideas on issues such as race, gender, and sexuality, mirroring the social divide on these and other subjects—a microcosm of the polarization manifested by the 2024 election.
The film documents a series of retreats where the pastors shared their beliefs, hopes, and visions, realizing that the reality of their friendship wouldn’t erase their differences. However, when deeply rooted differences were confronted, they saw the human cost of the divide on these issues and recognized they did not want these disagreements to tear them apart.
At one point, James Stokes, pastor of New Life Tabernacle Church of God, asked, “Why can’t we be who we are, and that be OK to the next person? Why do we try to make everybody believe and feel the same way?”
Nicholas Ma said the pastors taught him about the power of doing simple things like eating together, listening, and sticking together even when things get hard.
“There is something on the other side of hanging in there that is beautiful,” Ma said. “You don’t know when it’s going to happen, or how it’s going to happen, or if it’s going to happen, but you’ve got to hang in there because it is so nourishing and beautiful. That is the world we want to live in.”
Leap of Faith is available to view in theaters and on Fandango at Home.
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