"And the Lord did spaketh unto him, and...Ow, fuck! I'm dead!"

[CountDeMoney]

Lulz

Serpent-handling pastor profiled earlier in Washington Post dies from rattlesnake bite

Mack Wolford, a flamboyant Pentecostal pastor from West Virginia whose serpent-handling talents were profiled last November in The Washington Post Magazine , hoped the outdoor service he had planned for Sunday at an isolated state park would be a "homecoming like the old days," full of folks speaking in tongues, handling snakes and having a "great time." But it was not the sort of homecoming he foresaw.

Instead, Wolford, who turned 44 the previous day, was bitten by a rattlesnake he owned for years. He died late Sunday.

Mark Randall "Mack" Wolford was known all over Appalachia as a daring man of conviction. He believed that the Bible mandates that Christians handle serpents to test their faith in God — and that, if they are bitten, they trust in God alone to heal them.

He and other adherents cited Mark 16:17-18 as the reason for their practice: "And these signs will follow those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."

The son of a serpent handler who himself died in 1983 after being bitten, Wolford was trying to keep the practice alive, both in West Virginia, where it is legal, and in neighboring states where it is not. He was the kind of man reporters love: articulate, friendly and appreciative of media attention. Many serpent-handling Pentecostals retreat from journalists, but Wolford didn't. He'd take them on snake-hunting expeditions.

Last Sunday started as a festive outdoor service on a sunny afternoon at Panther Wildlife Management Area, a state park roughly 80 miles west of Bluefield, W.Va. In the preceding days, Wolford had posted several teasers on his Facebook page asking people to attend.

"I am looking for a great time this Sunday," he wrote May 22. "It is going to be a homecoming like the old days. Good 'ole raised in the holler or mountain ridge running, Holy Ghost-filled speaking-in-tongues sign believers."

"Praise the Lord and pass the rattlesnakes, brother" he wrote on May 23. He also invited his extended family, who had largely given up the practice of serpent handling, to come to the park.

"At one time or another, we had handled [snakes], but we had backslid," his sister, Robin Vanover, said Monday evening. "His birthday was Saturday, and all he wanted to do is get his brothers and sisters in church together."

And so they were gathered at this evangelistic hootenanny of Christian praise and worship. About 30 minutes into the service, his sister said, Wolford passed a yellow timber rattlesnake to a church member and his mother.

"He laid it on the ground," she said, "and he sat down next to the snake, and it bit him on the thigh."

A state forester, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said park officials were unaware of Wolford's activities. "Had we known he had poisonous animals, we would have never allowed it," he said.

The festivities came to a halt shortly thereafter, and Wolford was taken back to a relative's house in Bluefield to recover, as he always had when suffering from previous snake bites. By late afternoon, it was clear that this time was different, and desperate messages began flying about on Facebook, asking for prayer.

Wolford got progressively worse. Paramedics transported him to Bluefield Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. It could not be determined when the paramedics were called.

Wolford was 15 when he saw his father die at age 39 of a rattlesnake bite in almost exactly the same circumstances.

"He lived 10 1/2 hours," Wolford told The Washington Post last fall. "When he got bit, he said he wanted to die in the church. Three hours after he was bitten, his kidneys shut down. After a while, your heart stops. I hated to see him go, but he died for what he believed in."

According to people who witnessed Mack Wolford's death, history repeated itself. He was bitten roughly at 1:30 p.m.; he died about 11 that night.

One of the people present was Lauren Pond, 26, a freelance photographer from the District. She had been photographing serpent handlers in the area for more than a year, including for The Post, and stayed at Wolford's home in November.

"He helped me to understand the faith instead of just documenting it," she said Tuesday. "He was one of the most open pastors I've ever met. He was a friend and a teacher."

The family allowed her to stay near Wolford's side Sunday night, and she's still recovering from having witnessed the pastor's agonizing death. "I didn't see the bite," she said. "I saw the aftermath."

In an interview with The Post for last year's story, Jim Murphy, curator of the Reptile Discovery Center at the National Zoo, described what happens when a rattlesnake bites.

The pain is "excruciating," he said. "The venom attacks the nervous system. It's vicious and gruesome when it hits."

But Wolford refused to fear the creatures. He slung poisonous snakes around his neck, danced with them, even laid down on or near them. He displayed spots on his right hand where copperheads had sunk their fangs. His home in Bluefield had a spare bedroom filled with at least eight venomous snakes: usually rattlers, water moccasins and copperheads that he fed rats and mice. He was passionate about wanting to help churches in nearby states — including North Carolina and Tennessee, where the practice is illegal — start up their own serpent-handling services.

"I promised the Lord I'd do everything in my power to keep the faith going," he said in October. "I spend a lot of time going a lot of places that handle serpents to keep them motivated. I'm trying to get anybody I can get involved."

His funeral will be held Saturday at his church, House of the Lord Jesus, in Matoaka, just north of Bluefield.

Julia Duin, a contributing writer for The Washington Post Magazine, wrote the original article about Mack Wolford.

Original WasPost Mag article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/in-wva-snake-handling-is-still-considered-a-sign-of-faith/2011/10/18/gIQAmiqL9M_story.html

[CountDeMoney]

Anybody ever been to or through Bluefield, WV?

Without a doubt, one of the most depressing places you will ever see.  Makes Vineland, NJ look like a bustling center of cosmopolitan life.

[Jaron]

Rest in peaces, Brother Mack.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit.

[Eddie Teach]

What a goof.

[Caliga]

Anybody ever been to or through Bluefield, WV?

Without a doubt, one of the most depressing places you will ever see.  Makes Vineland, NJ look like a bustling center of cosmopolitan life.

Isn't it mostly abandoned?  Haven't been there but there are plenty of other towns in West Virginia like that.

[DontSayBanana]

Anybody ever been to or through Bluefield, WV?

Without a doubt, one of the most depressing places you will ever see.  Makes Vineland, NJ look like a bustling center of cosmopolitan life.

Shooby.  Bridgeton's the happening place for all the "urban renewal," you know.

[CountDeMoney]

Shooby.  Bridgeton's the happening place for all the "urban renewal," you know.

Yeah, I remember Bridgeton.   Met the Chief of Police there at the time. Entire office was fitted out in Penn State/Paterno worship. Heh.

[DGuller]

That reminds me of a story many years ago in Kiev.  Some guy enter the lion cage intending to prove that his faith in God can save him from being eaten.  It appeared that his proof had a bit of a flaw somewhere.

[CountDeMoney]

That reminds me of a story many years ago in Kiev.  Some guy enter the lion cage intending to prove that his faith in God can save him from being eaten.  It appeared that his proof had a bit of a flaw somewhere.

Considering the winning streak the Lions have over the Christians, never take the dog and the points.

[Razgovory]

How's Derspeiss holding up?  I hope he doesn't take the news to hard.

[CountDeMoney]

How's Derspeiss holding up?  I hope he doesn't take the news to hard.

Snake didn't bite any fetuses, so I'm sure he's cool.

[DGuller]

Found it, just to amuse myself. http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=17804

[Eddie Teach]

Found it, just to amuse myself. http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=17804

Azeri? Shouldn't he be praying to Allah then?

[DGuller]

Found it, just to amuse myself. http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=17804

Azeri? Shouldn't he be praying to Allah then?

Maybe that was his mistake.

[OttoVonBismarck]

I've been through Bluefield, and no, it isn't one of those abandoned mining cities. I don't know that it's ever been any more than it is right now, it's basically always been small and unremarkable. I read once that basically the only thing the town has going for it is, because of its elevation, it is naturally cool during most of the Summer. They call themselves "nature's air conditioned city." Apparently they give out free lemonade any day of the year that gets over 90...

There's also a Bluefield, VA that is right across the river from Bluefield, WV, and is a little bit smaller.