The most spectacular Christmas show this holiday season will be staged at a site that most readers of this magazine do not even know exists.

The show is called Tribulation Christmas. It boasts a cast and crew of 200, an orchestra of 25, production values to rival Broadway, and a sparkling new theater-like setting in what may well be the most fascinating faith community in Christendom--the Sheffield Family Life Center in the tough, working-class quarters of Northeast Kansas City. Before the show completes its run on December 14, some 20,000 Kansas Citians will have paid five dollars a head to see it.

The show promises to be an "apocalyptic peek into a world devoid of peace, love and hope." Set seven years after the world is rocked by the sudden disappearance of millions of people form all over the earth, the story line is grounded in the same biblical tradition as the popular "Left Behind" series, in which those who are left behind struggle to make sense of what has happened.

Although there is a nativity scene in the show, Tribulation Christmas does not much resemble the benign holiday shows one associates with the season. Those who come should be prepared for a thriller with lots of pyrotechnics and religious overtones.

"We did not want to do the traditional stuff," says Executive Producer and Senior Associate Pastor, Fel Bugunu, "We wanted to push the envelope." Bugunu is working on his 15th annual show in this 22 year-old tradition.

For those who have never been, the Sheffield Family Life Center is worth the trip in and of itself. Under the direction of Pastor George Westlake Jr., the Center now embraces a stunningly diverse congregation of some 6,000 souls, seemingly equal parts white, black, and Hispanic without any sense of distinction among them. Some 4,000 of these congregants show up each Sunday for the Center's enthusiastic and highly participative services.

Given the size of the congregation, and their active involvement, Drama Director Charlotte Laterra, has had little trouble recruiting a cast of amateurs who seem anything but. Natalie Moultrie and Jim Flink, morning anchors on KMBC-TV, also help out with the show, portraying--what else?--TV anchors in a video segment.

Last year marked the premier showing of Tribulation Christmas in the Center's new sanctuary, a state-of- the-art, 2,800-seat, theater-like venue that was clearly designed with Tribulation Christmas in mind. The stage has moveable walls to give full wing access. The choir risers are retractable with a curtain to hide them when they are drawn back. Rear screen video projection was carefully integrated into the overall design of the auditorium to ensure clean sightlines. And the catwalk and dimmer systems were designed large enough to accommodate special productions. This built-in flexibility allows the church to restage for the production in just under two hours.

An $18 million complex of this nature might not seem unusual in, say Olathe, but it is almost unheard in the urban core. Given the location, church volunteers, when not involved in producing the show, have no trouble finding people who need their help. They feed the homeless on the streets and conduct other outreach ministries, including those to singles, street prostitutes, prisoners and gang members. More than 500 youth from 50 area schools come to the Wednesday youth meetings. The church's avowed purpose is to reach as many people in as many ways as possible.

"Sheffield is not a country club," says Pastor Westlake, "It's a hospital for hurting people."

In December, however, the Sheffield Family Life Center is a theater and a lively one at that. Those who have seen the show before need not worry. "We've added a couple of more things," says Pastor Bugunu."We have raised the level a little bit higher."

Tickets are available through the Sheffield Family Life Center at 816.241.4831 or at Christian book stores.