> "The Dolley Pond Church of God With Signs Following was founded in
> Tennessee in 1909 by one George Went Hensley. This former bootlegger took
> to the pulpit in a rural Pentecostalist community in Grasshopper Valley.
> One Sabbath, while he was preaching a fiery sermon, some of the
> congregation dumped a large box of rattlesnakes into the pulpit (history
> does not record whether they were angry or just bored). Without missing a
> beat, in mid-sentence, Hensley bent down, picked up a 3ft-long specimen of
> this most venomous of snakes, and held it wriggling high above his head.
> Unharmed, he exhorted his congregation to follow suit, quoting the words
> of Christ: "And these signs will follow those who believe ... in my Name
> ... they will take up serpents."
> News of Hensley's sermon spread through Grasshopper Valley; others joined
> him in handling snakes, and the practice caught on. There have since been
> around 120 deaths from snakebite in these churches, but most of the
> congregants tend to refuse medical help if they are bitten, preferring to
> believe that divine intervention will be more efficacious. Sadly, Hensley
> himself perished from a snakebite in 1955, and shortly afterwards the US
> government wisely acted to prevent the practice - although it is still ...