In conversation with Hamblin, he mentioned to me that he wanted to make his church more open to all, that he wanted people of other traditions to come and see. In essence, he wanted to make his brand of Christianity more mainstream, or at least more visible to the public, to dispel myths about their practices.

That plan is having some setbacks now. The news is that the congregation was evicted from the church building by the landlord, who complained that Hamblin was spending too much time with the serpents. In addition, it seems Hamblin and his wife are divorcing, which no doubt will be messy as she is pregnant with the couple's sixth child. I do not know the details, nor will I speculate what is going on - as a former Family Law attorney, I do know this won't be an easy fix.

But I do want to say something about the serpent handling to provide a true picture of what goes on during one of their services. To begin, the services are long - it can start at 7:30 pom and go past midnight, if the Spirit is moving. I attended one for nearly three hours and during that time, estimated that the snakes (and believe me, these are venomous, being mostly Eastern Timber rattlesnakes) were out of their cages for maybe 20 minutes.

Yes, the services are not "all about the snakes." Most of the service is focused on faith healing, with people coming forward to have hands laid on them, prayers said over them, and perhaps anointed with oil. A good portion is spent either with preaching or prophesying - the last service, a fellow went on for a good half hour, pacing back and forth, moaning, and occasionally saying in a high, breathy voice, "Oh, Lord . . . children listen . . . ohhhhh . . . bad times are coming . . . . yesssss . . . . ohhhhh . . . but chlidren . . . he is with you . . . . Jesus . . . ."