We all know them, the people who are the biggest Christians in church on Sunday, and the biggest hypocrites around town Monday through Saturday -- they claim to know who is "sweethearting, gossiping and drinking" and they won't think twice about spreading the information and of course judge that person.

While they are all wrapped up in spreading the word on someone else's so-called life, they forget and can't see how hypocritical they are being and that they are in fact the church hypocrite.

And it's those very same people who Bernadette Russell pokes fun at in her stage play "Playing With God: Church Hypocrites" the stage drama that is being held for one night only, on Friday, March 7 at Holy Trinity Activity Center, Trinity Way, Stapledon Gardens.

It's a play she wants the "church hypocrites" to leave noticing that they are doing wrong and actually want to live the life that's pleasing to God, if in fact they do fall into that category.

"I want them to remember those beatitudes and the gift of the spirit that we want emulated in our life," said Russell, the play's producer/director.

"There is a lot of stuff that we do in the church that's not godly -- as simple as gossiping and judging and talking about somebody's old lifestyle when they get saved.

We do those things and we're not supposed to do those things. If somebody says they're saved, no matter if they used to drink 10 years ago, that shouldn't be something that you're gossiping about and talking about them being in the bar with your friend.

"We don't let the person's old lifestyle dead. God gave them a new start, but we still carrying around their old baggage, throwing it in their face."

Russell worships at Living Waters Kingdom Ministries. During the play she even touches on the topic of "sweetheart keeping in the church".

"We do everything in the church we ain't supposed to do," she said. And of course, the pastor isn't let off the hook, there are jokes about the man in the pulpit as well.

In "Playing with God: Church Hypocrites" the pastor is quite a character who believes he's very serious, but whose congregation mocks him at every chance it gets.

"Whenever he's preaching he likes to go, 'say um huh', and the members are right there mocking him going, 'um huh'," she said.

Then there's the tale of the praise and worship leader, the guy in the church all the girls are running after, the average Joe who gave their life to Christ, but had big baggage, and then the "church hypocrites" find out about it, and it becomes the biggest news in the church, and then you have the deacon who is an old drunkard and is a character who must be seen, according to Russell.

She said the issues in the play are ones she believes need to be highlighted because the Bible says God will not come until the church cleans up, and that Christians need to clean up their act. While the themes are common in churches around the country, she said the characters are not patterned after any one person or any one church.

In the weeks leading up to the play, she and the cast have visited many churches promoting the stage play.

"What I have found going around to different churches is that we have so many people who really love God -- pastors and members -- but then you have those hypocrites too," she said.

She said she has gotten backlash from one church, where people did not agree with the words "church hypocrite" being a part of the title.

But she said the wrong that does happen in the church, and which should not happen among people claiming Christianity needs to be highlighted.

The themes in the stage play were originally the themes in a play written by Russell's friend, Leonardo Burrows. She received Burrows' permission to tweak it, rewrote a lot of the scenes and changed the title as the original name did not resonate with her.

Russell said she prayed about it and the name "Playing With God: Church Hypocrites" came to her. The family-oriented drama is one hour and 45 minutes of laughs.

For Russell, the ending is perhaps the best part of the play that she said is climactic. She said the cast is excited to take to the stage.

"I'm excited -- the actors are excited," she said. "We did some church visits leading up to it to get the word out and get people all excited about it so we want everyone to come out and enjoy it. But the main reason we're embarking on this project is because we want souls to be touched, because it's a ministry."

Russell, who has written plays in the past, which she has produced in her church home, is going outside the church walls for the first time with this production. For those people who have seen Burrows' original version of the play, she said people will see something totally different.

"The actors have gotten a different concept of the characters actually. They're more comfortable with the characters and have added more jokes, because in rehearsals I would find myself saying you never did that before, so they're doing a little more ad-libbing and adding more jokes," she said.

Music Vibes Production: "Playing With God: Church Hypocrites"

When: Friday, March 7

Where: Holy Trinity Activity Center, Trinity Way, Stapledon Gardens

Time: 7 p.m. doors open, 7:30 p.m. show starts

Tickets: $15 in advance, $20 at the door, children $10 at the door

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