The last snake-handling church of West Virginia: In pictures trends now
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A mix of delta blues and bluegrass music blares from the speakers of the House of the Lord Jesus, hidden deep in the Appalachian Mountains.
It is almost loud enough to drown out the sound of rattlesnakes lying in their tanks.
For the church, run by the Wolford family, is the last remaining serpent-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 anybody 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-churning photo exhibition, Gloryland, the unique services of the House of the Lord Jesus are captured on camera by photographer Robert LeBlanc.
GLORYLAND, an exhibition at the Fahey/Klein Gallery offers an 'intimate perspective' into the last remaining Sign Following Pentecostal serpent-handling 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 based on the bible passage Mark 16: 17 which reads: 'In my name shall they 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.'
