Snake handlers

Snake handlers are a teeny, tiny subset of Pentecostal Holiness believers. They take the following Scripture as their charter:

¹⁷ And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;¹⁸ They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

link to Mark 16

Some of the groups practicing snake handling call themselves the Church of God (or Jesus) with Signs Following*, based on these verses. (It should be noted, however, that this is called the "longer ending" to Mark and is not found in all the manuscripts, indicating it's a later addition.) Followers of this faith tend to be concentrated in southern Appalachia, that is, in corners of Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Georgia, and North and South Carolina.

Years ago I read Dennis Covington's Salvation on Sand Mountain, which consists of an expansion of Covington's reporting on the trial of one of the snake handlers, not for handling snakes, but for trying to have a snake bite and kill his wife and make it look like suicide. Glenn Summerford was convicted and, as a result, snake handling declined for the better part of two decades. Thomas Burton tells Glenn Summerford's story in The Serpent and the Spirit, published in 2004 (which I have not read). But I can heartily recommend Covington's book.

Coming forward now to 2012, and the snake handlers are back in the news.

The Washington Post published a story and photos in November 2011 about Randy "Mack" Wolford, a 44-year-old snake handler who was basically a snake handling evangelist, trying to revive the practice in Appalachia. Several months later, at the end of May, Wolford died from a snake bite. Interestingly enough, Lauren Pond, the photojournalist who documented the November story, happened to be on hand for the church service and Wolford's subsequent death. She documented the aftermath of the rattlesnake bite and his subsequent death and wrote about it for the Post. She was also roundly criticized for not trying to save Wolford's life, but in her defense, I don't think Wolford wanted to be saved in that way. He wanted to trust in God, even if it meant his death.

But that hasn't stopped even younger snake handlers from stepping up since Wolford's death. The Tennessean newspaper published a profile of a young snake handler named Andrew Hamblin from La Follette, Tennessee and it was picked up by USA Today. (Note to the Tennessean, I'd link to your story but that YOU HAVE 20 STORIES LEFT popup is annoying.) I found this article in a roundabout way, following a discussion about Andrew's wife, Liz, on a message board I frequent. I found her Facebook (which is absolutely open to the world) and the first picture as of today is one of her handling a snake at a church service:

From there I went to her husband's page and then discovered he'd been profiled in an article.

I can't award a "Jesus, Save Us From Your Followers" facepalm to the snake handlers, because they're not trying to impose their beliefs on us. They're very clear that the only people who should be handling snakes or drinking poison or passing fire should be adults who have been touched by the Spirit. That said, this is not something I would ever do. Ever.

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* The Church of God With Signs Following is trinitarian, while the Church of Jesus With Signs Following is unitarian/oneness.