"This movie is not going to make anyone anti-Semitic and people who are anti-Semitic don't need this movie to confirm it," he told KOMO 4 News. "Rather this movie polarizes the world -- it divides it into them and us."

That belief about the Mel Gibson produced, directed, and funded movie that depicts the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus, brought Elcott together with Reverend James Eblen, a Roman Catholic priest, at a Town Hall meeting Monday night. They sat side by side on stage in front of a crowd of several hundred from differing faiths. They hope that with pre-emptive discussions the movie can actually bring Jews and Christians closer together.

In a companion DVD called the Passion Outreach Project, Gibson talks about his hopes for the movie. The DVD is being distributed to churches as a teaching tool for church youth groups.

"My hope is that this message will change people's lives and remind them of the enormity of the sacrifices made for us all," says Gibson on the DVD. "It's a story I believe in and it's a message the whole world needs to hear right now particularly I think."

The Town Hall meeting organized by the American Jewish Committee was held to address concerns that the movie could instead drive a wedge deeper between Jews and those who have blamed them for 2,000 years for the death of Jesus. Elcott is also concerned that the gospel of the movie might not be true to the New Testament gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

"And our anxiety, and I'm sure it is the anxiety of our Christian colleagues as well, is that this movie becomes gospel and it isn't gospel its just one man's telling."

Gibson and Christian church leaders who have seen the movie say it is true to the Bible's telling of the final hours of Jesus' life. Regardless, the Seattle church leaders who gathered for the Monday night forum plan to be true to their pledge to not let the film drive them apart.

"I hope part of the benefit (of the film) is that Jew and Christian can talk together about these things in a way that is way down the road past blaming one another," said Rev. Eblen.

The American Jewish Committee presented the forum called "Mel Gibson's 'Passion': What's at Stake for Jews and Christians?"

"The Passion of the Christ" opens nationwide on February 25th.