Brothers+

The story printed below has appeared several times over the years, only the date line changes.

The reporters of these events must dig out a previous copy from the files and just change the name.

The article would be more interesting if they would report on the condition of the snake.  Apparently the snakes involved have more faith than the worshippers.

Charles+
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Snake-handling preacher dies after bite from rattler

The pastor refused medical treatment after a venomous bite during Easter services

BY REX BOWMANRICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER	Apr 15, 2004

A Lee County preacher demonstrating his faith by handling a rattlesnake in church - an illegal act practiced by some Pentecostal congregations in Appalachia - has died after the snake bit him.
"I guess it caught him by surprise," said Alfred Taylor, a member of Arthur's Chapel in Rose Hill, where the Rev. Dwayne Long, 45, was bitten during an Easter service.
Long, whose father was also a snake-handling preacher for more than 30 years, died at his home Monday after refusing medical treatment.
Taylor said Long had picked up the rattlesnake during the service when it bit him on the back of the finger. "They asked him if he wanted to go to the hospital and he said no. It was his choice," Taylor said, adding that Long apparently grew fatally ill from the bite while on the way home. "He was a good fellow. You couldn't find a better fellow."
Taylor said he has handled snakes while worshipping at Arthur's Chapel, a ridge-top church where 50 to 60 worshippers gather on Sundays. He said Long had handled snakes for years, and he could not remember a snake biting Long previously.
"It's not a matter of being good at it, it's the Lord's will," he said. "We don't do it all the time. The Lord moves on a man to do it. It can be weeks that we don't do it, and then we do. It's whenever the Lord moves on it."
News of the fatal snakebite surprised few in the mountain community, where the church, like others in neighboring Kentucky and Tennessee, is widely known for snake-handling.
"I knew [Long] and his dad," said local resident Larry Byrd. "His dad did the same thing. He died of a heart attack, but he'd been bit five or six times."
"There have been other members of that family who have died of snakebites in the past 30 to 40 years," added Lee Sheriff Gary Parsons, who investigated Long's death before deciding not to file charges.
Snake-handling has been a misdemeanor in Virginia since 1947. Virginia and several other Southern states outlawed the practice in the 1940s when several worshippers died from snake bites.
Snake-handling caught on among congregations who viewed it as a way to show their faith in and obedience to God.
Snake-handlers defend the practice by citing Mark 16:17-18: "And these signs shall follow them that believe: in my name they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 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."
The movement began in the early 1900s, and a Tennessee native, George Hensley, is considered the father of modern snake-handling. According to some accounts, Hensley was preaching when someone dropped a box of snakes at his feet. Hensley picked up the snakes and continued his sermon, and soon snake-handling spread to other churches.
According to other accounts, Hensley brought the box of snakes to the pulpit himself as he preached from the book of Mark. He died in 1955, of a snakebite.
Long, in addition to being a part-time preacher, was a well-known contractor in Rose Hill and also kept about 100 head of cattle on a farm. Yesterday, his family declined to comment on his death. He is survived by his wife, five children and two grandchildren.
"He was very well-liked in the community, a real hard worker," said Rose Hill resident Edwin Daniels, who added that he didn't see eye-to-eye with Long on his religious practices, but nonetheless admired him for his faith. "I'm not a snake-handler by no means, but it probably wouldn't hurt me to get a little more religion."
Parsons, the sheriff, said Arthur's Chapel isn't the only church in Lee that practices snake-handling. He said he doesn't plan on interfering with the churches' religious ceremonies.
"It's a Class 4 misdemeanor, which means I could cite them," Parsons said. "But that's gone on for years, and I'm not sure citing them would stop them any. If I cited them, they'd probably just go somewhere else and do it. They're strong in their beliefs."
Contact Rex Bowman at (540) 344-3612 or rbowman@...