West Virginia’s Last Snake-Handling Church: In Pictures
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Preaching with poison! Incredible Pictures Show Last West Virginia Church Handling Snakes: Preachers Believe Handling Venomous Snakes And Fire Without Harm Is A Sign Of Salvation
- Gloryland photo exhibit shows ritual snake handling at a church in Squire, West Virginia
- Preachers handle poisonous snakes, ingest poison and hold fire bottles to their chins
- The church claims that the true worshipers within them should be able to ingest poison without suffering, though many have died from the practice.
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A mix of delta blues and bluegrass music blasts from the speakers of the House of the Lord Jesus, tucked deep in the Appalachian Mountains.
It’s almost loud enough to drown out the sound of rattlesnakes lying in their tanks.
The church, run by the Wolford family, is the last snake-handling church in West Virginia, where preachers are known for playing with venomous snakes, drinking poison and holding bottles of fire.
Their practices date back to the early 1900s and are based on the belief that anyone who truly has the Holy Spirit within them should be able to ingest poison without suffering and survive any number of venomous bites. Such rituals have killed many and injured even more.
Here, in a stomach-turning photo exhibit, Gloryland, the unique amenities of the House of the Lord Jesus are captured on camera by photographer Robert LeBlanc.
GLORYLAND, an exhibit at the Fahey/Klein Gallery offers an ‘intimate perspective’ of the last remaining sign after the snake-handling Pentecostal church in West Virginia. The church, run by the Wolford family, sees preachers handle snakes, ingest poison and handle fire in unusual services. Their rituals are based on the Biblical passage Mark 16:17 which says: ‘In my name they will cast out demons; They will speak in new tongues. They will pick up serpents; and if they drink a deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.’
The House of the Lord Jesus is one of the few churches that still practices snake handling in the 21st century. These rituals have been shrouded in controversy as they have been responsible for so many deaths. In 2014, Kentucky pastor Jamie Coots died after being bitten by a snake he was handling en masse. And in 1991, pastor Glen Summerford, 76, was jailed after he attempted to murder her cheating wife by forcing her hand into her rattlesnake cage.
A member of the church, Robert ‘Bobbie’ Ayers, is pictured after being bitten by a rattlesnake. The image is part of the GLORYLAND exhibition that was held in collaboration with NFT Super Rare marketplace and art streaming platform Niio.
In a foreword to the picture book, Ralph W. Hood writes: ‘This is a sympathetic view of a tradition more maligned than understood. This is her story and a vision of a faith that many believe is destined to be abandoned.’
A nun is depicted holding a bottle of fire to her chin while Pastor Chris Wolford holds a rattlesnake in the background. The images were captured by Robert LeBlanc, whose work is marked by unusual intensity and immediacy.
Chris Wolford reads a passage from the Bible on a mountain in Cucumber, West Virginia
Elijah, pictured, is the nephew of Pastor Chris Wolford here. In an HBO documentary, Alabama Snake, an officer said of the practice prevalent in the Appalachian Mountains: “I think people who live on the mountains tend to mind their own problems, they don’t need or want the police surveillance that you would. “. find here in Scottsboro,’ explained a uniformed officer.’
Photographer Robert LeBlanc writes that the sound of rattlesnakes ‘fills the air’ in the church while the sound of ‘delta blues’ and ‘bluegrass’ music
A nun is shown holding a bottle of fire to her chin in the exhibition running at the Fahey/Klein Gallery in Los Angeles from January 24-28. An NFT iteration is also available in Super Rare.
An abandoned coal loader for hopper cars. In a foreword, Ralph W Hood wrote: ‘A major theme in GLORYLAND is that of abandonment. There are wonderful photographs of derelict buildings, houses and an abandoned coal loader. In West Virginia, coal is king. Corporate America takes the wealth derived from coal mining, rapes and rapes the land, and abandons what is no longer needed, including those who risk their lives underground or now operate huge machines that level entire mountains. However, abandonment is a dual issue. The simple fact is that the believers in West Virginia have not abandoned God. Trapped in poverty or not, the believers in West Virginia are rich in their incarnate faith.’