The Jolo church was founded in 1956 by Bob and ... “I don’t expect it to stay open long,” he says. “Here in West Virginia, snake handling’s a thing of the past. They’ve lost interest.

May 30, 2012 -- A "serpent-handling" West Virginia pastor died after his rattlesnake bit him during a church ritual, just as the man had apparently watched a snake kill his father years before.

The tiny community of Squire, West Virginia, near a coal mine in the Appalachian ... is not something that is endorsed by any denomination." "As far as the snake handling churches are concerned, what ...

Snake-handling is legal in West Virginia, and Wolford was trying to ... Post that during the service he passed the snake to another church member and his mother, then laid it on the ground.

(CNN) – When Mack Wolford, one of the most famous Pentecostal serpent handlers in Appalachia, is laid to rest Saturday at his West Virginia church ... He enjoyed handling snakes during worship ...

The first snake-handling worship service photographer ... But this one, just outside of Jolo, West Virginia, was much calmer. The pastor handled the snakes peacefully, the congregation prayed ...

On a warm summer evening several years ago, congregants jammed the front of the Tabernacle Church ... West Virginia. But last fall he began pulling back from public spectacle, staging snake ...

Snake handling churches had faded from view because of negative publicity and changing mores. However, last year in West Virginia, Mercer County pastor Mark Randall Wolford died after being bitten ...

THIS is the moment a serpent-handling ... the church in Squire, West Virginia last year where Chris led a service in which he drank deadly strychnine poison, swung venomous snakes through the ...

The origins of snake handling in the churches of the southern states, where it was most prevalent, are something of a mystery. Most historians support George W. Hensley’s claim that it started ...

The tiny community of Squire, West Virginia, near a coal mine in the ... "As far as the snake handling churches are concerned, what they do, even though this is disowned by other religious bodies ...