Snowflakes danced across the headlight beam as my wife Jennifer, and I pulled into Park City, Utah, in January 2005 after a long drive. But despite our weariness, an electric sense of anticipation had both of us completely wired.

We were there with about 60 film and theology students from Biola University, Fuller Seminary, and elsewhere to participate in the inaugural Windrider forum, watching and discussing films debuting at the Sundance Film Festival, the pre­mier showcase for independent film in the United States.

Our assignment, delivered by YOUTHWORKER JOURNAL film critic, filmmaker, teacher and “tour guide” Craig Detweiler, was to look for God’s “fingerprints” in the films we saw.

For five days, we immersed ourselves in the world of independent film before reconvening at our home-away-from-home, Mountain Vineyard Church, to talk about what we’d witnessed.

Some of us were apprehensive. Sundance was famous for edgy, controversial fare. But during the week, we learned to look at the intersection of film and culture with new eyes. We asked new questions; and, together, we explored what genuine dialogue with our culture— and with those whose beliefs are differ­ent—really looked like in action.

“We gather at the nexus of faith, art and culture, diving into all three with a sense of expectation and wonder,” wrote Craig on the Windrider blog (mypopculture.com/win­drider2007/). I asked him what that means.

‘To me the Windrider Forum comes alongside the cultural conversation already occurring at Sundance. It’s part class, part conference and an overall immersive experience. The art begins with the filmmakers themselves and the independent movies they’re making. The Christian film and theology students who come to the Windrider Forum have an opportunity to join the cultural conversation already occurring and to connect their faith with the art of Sundance films.

“The concept behind Windrider is that the wind of the Holy Spirit is contin­uing to blow, and we can get in step with what the Spirit is already doing. For youth ministers who come to the festival, they already see their students influ­enced by pop culture. But they don’t understand that God can really be involved in that process. To me, it’s about integrating faith and practice, recognizing the work of the Spirit in every­day life and, in particular, independent film.” For Boulder, Colorado Young Life staffer Natalie Erickson, the week was “an eye-opening, heart-opening experience” that has helped her connect her faith to the broader culture. “Windrider was not just about viewing films,” Natalie told me. “It was about submerging myself in the views and issues around our culture today. As I listened to film directors, writers and actors who came to speak in our class, my faith was pushed and moved in all directions. My eyes were opened to a new perspective on being a believer in the world.

“God is moving in our culture in ways the Christian community is sometimes blind to. I need to be stepping into the lives of people around me, into what they are watching, listening to and struggling with, rather than hoping they will stumble into my world.”

Sages, Poets and Prophets

One area where Sundance filmmakers often choose to focus their lenses has to do with social justice. “The Sundance filmmakers are, to a degree, asking life’s ultimate questions,” Craig says. “They’re great at highlighting prob­lems of justice and mercy around the globe. To some degree, they’re point­ing a spotlight on issues that people of faith should be championing.”

In the two years my wife and I attended Windrider, we were struck by how many films dealt with issues of war, consumerism, the value of human life, stewardship of the environment and the necessity for forgiveness.

Film producer John Priddy, whose vision helped launch Windrider, says, “I believe that independent filmmakers are the poets and sages of our time.”

Will Stoller-Lee, the Fuller Colorado director who turned Priddy’s vision into a class, agrees. “Documentary filmmakers are becoming the modern-day prophets. They’re the people who are looking at the world and seeing that things are not right and asking the provocative and challenging ques­tions we need to hear to deal with issues of modern-day slavery, sex traffick­ing, poverty, hunger and justice. Movies can help us understand the place in the world where God really grieves the injustice and the evil we see.”

One forum participant was moved by the film War/Dance. “The stories presented in War/Dance—a story about northern Ugandan children escap­ing from the terrors of senseless killings and abductions via the art of music and dance—are both inspiring and incomprehensible,” said Bob Davidson, a Young Life regional trainer from Chicago.

Craig sees film as a form of on-screen general revelation. “I believe God can speak through anyone at any time,” he says. “The common grace that’s been communicated in the Bible through the king of Persia or the wisdom of Egypt in the book of Proverbs shows us that God’s wisdom can be imparted through unlikely sources and means.

“Another passage of Scripture that emphasizes this idea is Psalm 19, which begins with the general revelation of God com­municating through the stars and the sky before moving on to special revelation—the law of the Lord. And so we’re starting on the general revelation end of the spectrum, just opening our eyes and ears to receive whatever God may be saying through whatever source God may be communicating it.”

Unfiltered Reality

 But according to Jennifer Bales, a Fuller Master of Divinity student, that doesn’t mean viewing such films is easy. “Many of the films are about difficult subjects. They present reality in an unfiltered way. That freedom of expression was difficult to watch and overwhelming at times. And it wasn’t just once a day, either. Typically, I saw three or four films a day. The Sundance experience is an emotional rollercoaster.”

Two films featured at Sundance in 2006 focused on homosexuality and Christianity: For the Bible Tells Me So and Save Me. Bob Davidson said watching films about gays’ troubles with the church was heartbreaking. “At the conclusion of Save Me, I found myself surrounded by the tears from numerous individuals, both gay and straight, who were completely distraught by what we had just experienced.”

Jennifer struggled with Snow Angels. “It was about an alcoholic father and believer struggling with depression and who shot himself and his ex-wife after their child died,” she says. “It was difficult to reconcile a person who has faith in God with such extreme personal problems. I ended up writing a research paper on it and delving more deeply into the subject of religious addiction. That one film in and of itself was a valuable learning experience that I will take with me into ministry.”

From Movies to Ministry

The vast majority of the independent films that screen at Sundance will never show up in your local Cineplex. For every Napoleon Dynamite, Garden State or Hustle and Flow, there are hundreds of movies that will never find a distributor.

But for those who have participated in the Windrider Forum, what’s been most important isn’t getting a sneak peak at the next sleeper hit. Rather, it’s been the way Windrider has shaped their approach to ministry and their under­standing of popular culture.

“If you look at life and culture through an open-minded lens, you can see God in anything,” says Natalie. “ I’ve realized how important that is when working with adolescents, because so often they think God is only present in a building with a cross on it. Using film in talks or with a small group of kids is a way to engage them and connect them with bib­lical stories or characters. So many films are packed with stories of love, grace, for­giveness and redemption.”

Bob agrees. “Sundance and Windrider have caused me to contemplate how I communicate to, interact with and see both youth in particular and people in general. I found myself consistently ask­ing the questions at Sundance, What can we learn from these filmmakers who seem to understand Christ’s distinction between eyes and ears that see and those that do not? What can we learn about narrative theology from these great storytellers? What do these filmmakers understand about general reve­lation and beauty that I do not? About life’s tensions? About the transcendent?”

For Jennifer, participating in Windrider has led to a paradigm shift in her theology of ministry. “I was so excited about the different lens I gained from the Windrider experience that I immediately helped start an independent film small group at my church,” she says.

“In the bigger picture, my experience also caused me to question the whole idea of Christians separating themselves from the world outside. We can’t share our faith if we are not engaging people where they are, spatially and spiritually. That engagement needs to happen with matu­rity and intelligence. I’ve personally joined a poetry group for this reason. It’s a way I can express myself artistically, and I have a chance to connect with people outside my normal circles in a way that’s real and honest.

“Ultimately,” Jennifer concludes, “being a Christian is not about an us-versus-them mentality. It’s about being missional, building bridges and connecting with people so they may experience Christ.”

Adam R. Holz is associate editor for Focus on the Family’s Plugged In media-discernment magazine and a freelance writer. His wife, Jennifer, is a minister at First Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado.