Even unto death

One of two fascinating articles concerning the "taking up" serpents. In other words snake handling. What is sad though, this article was posted on Feb 2, just two weeks prior to Jamie Coots' death by snake. Such an interesting sub-culture within the Pentecostal movement,,,

Places like this used to be private, secrets tucked away in the hills. Now many people travel from across the country, even the world, to sit in a pew and bear witness to the sights and sounds of this church, to see these people flirt with death. But to the congregants — the families who have worshipped this way for generations, the former alcoholics and drug users who are looking for a sign — this is salvation.

The outsiders want to see the rattlesnakes, but snakes don’t always appear during worship. Sometimes they remain curling in a box on the edge of the altar, untouched. They only come out when there is a call, when God tells a believer to take up the danger and trust Him.

For nearly an hour the music plays, a blues sound with a contagious rhythm.

Then, a frenzy begins to build. The music intensifies. The cries grow louder. Some stumble in trances, each person immersed in his or her own experience.

Outsiders peer through the chaos to see what happens next.

The pastor, Hamblin, sets down his guitar and walks away from the pulpit toward the box on the floor. He says his soul is churning. He must obey.

There is death in that box, he likes to tell people. He’s been bitten before. He’s seen men die in moments like these, good men, righteous men.

But when he grips his hand around the middle of the rattler, almost no one seems afraid.

He juggles the coils of patterned scales until the head is erect, stretching toward him, and he believes that this time, like so many others, God will hold the serpent’s mouth shut.

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To understand modern-day serpent handing you have to go back to White Oak Mountain, a ridge that straddles the Hamilton and Bradley county lines. You have to go back to the early 1900s and George Hensley, a man whom some have called a moonshiner, an illiterate.

While serpent handling may have surfaced in churches before Hensley, the Tennessee native is credited for evangelizing the practice across Appalachia and drawing the world’s attention to his audacious brand of Pentecostalism.

A drunk who often struggled to keep steady work, Hensley sought redemption, and believed it could be found in a portion of the Book of Mark where Jesus says to handle snakes in his name.

On White Oak Mountain, he picked up his first snake as an act of obedience and quickly began recruiting followers, traveling across Appalachia and the Ozarks to plant churches that all functioned independently.

But the main vehicle for spreading his beliefs was as a pastor in the Cleveland-based Church of God, now the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world. The church once embraced snake handling, but has disavowed the practice for more than half a century.

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Hamblin, especially, envisions serpent handling going mainstream. He hopes a spotlight, even a court fight, will help him win more followers, or at least secure acceptance.

Experts say his push is important to watch because it will test the limits of America’s commitment to religious liberty. Snakes can maim and kill, but they are essential to these people’s faith. It opens the door to an important question: Should the government protect people from themselves? Or leave them to do what they think is right, regardless of the risk?

“Taking away our snakes is like taking away the Baptists’ Bibles. Or the Catholics’ communion,” Hamblin said.

[,,,]
He remembers watching a television show explaining the practice, and he was intrigued. He read books, watched Internet clips and studied his King James Bible, especially the passage in Mark on which serpent handlers base their practice. Biblical scholars, as noted in many study Bibles, say that these few verses were not originally included in Mark’s Gospel, but were added later. Many experts say early Christians didn’t even know about these verses.

Even unto death

Coots' son takes over Ky. church, continues to handle snakes

It's been two days since a Middlesboro, Kentucky, pastor was laid to rest after a snake he was handling bit him, and now his 21-year-old son said he is taking over the church and will continue to handle snakes.

Jamie Coots died Saturday night after a fatal snakebite at Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus' Name. Tuesday, family and friends said goodbye at Creech Funeral Home.

Cody Coots, Jamie's son, said following the wake, a smaller group went back to his father's church and handled snakes.

"I knew people were wanting to do church and we couldn't do that in the funeral home because that would be breaking the law," said Cody Coots. "I didn't want to disrespect the funeral home by saying 'hey, we're wanting to have snakes here.'"

While Coots has a permit to possess poisonous snakes, according to Kentucky law it is illegal to handle them, but Coots said it was one of his father's dying wishes to practice their faith until the end.

Coots' son takes over Ky. church, continues to handle snakes

New reality show, called “Snake Salvation” to air in September on National Geographic | God Discussion

Although I do find the beliefs of these snake handling sects quite interesting, do we really need another "reality" show??

A new reality show, called “Snake Salvation” will feature two snake-handling ministers, practicing a tradition that is over 100 years old, and airs on National Geographic starting on September 9, with 16 episodes at this point.

The pastor of Tabernacle Church of God in La Follette, Tennessee, Andrew Hamblin, age 21 handles snakes and posts on a Facebook page about his life. As part of a new generation of snake-handling preachers, he welcomes visitors to his church, while older snake-handling Christians do not.

National Geographic will also feature Jamie Coots, of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name church of Middlesboro, Kentucky. Coots stated that the show will feature snake-handlers’ lives and struggles in their religious faith.

Although Testa makes a good point, and to be honest it is a sub-culture I am curious about. I'm just not sure if a reality show is the venue I would want to learn about it,,,

Matthew Testa, one of National Geographic crewmembers, feels that even though snake-handling is illegal in many states, as well as dangerous, Coots and Hamblin opening their churches to the media, something most snake-handling minister will not do, it will give views a glimpse into a religious sub-culture.

"We live at a time when, because of the Internet and television, we are all becoming more and more alike," he said. "To find a really distinct American subculture is incredibly rare."

New reality show, called “Snake Salvation” to air in September on National Geographic | God Discussion