Snake Handler Dies

A snake-handling, West Virginia pastor died Sunday from the bites of a rattle snake. Mack Wolford was pastor at the Full Gospel Apostolic House of the Lord Jesus in Matoaka. Wolford’s father died the same way when he was a teenager. Wolford had been bitten at least three other times without seeking medical attention. Some states have outlawed the practice. Jim Murphy, curator of the Reptile Discovery Center at the National Zoo, told the Washington Post last year that the pain from such a bite would be "excruciating" because "The venom attacks the nervous system. It's vicious and gruesome when it hits." Here's a trailer of a video about Wolford that was in the works when he died.

County Money to Jesus Fest Disputed

The ACLU is trying to get West Virginia's Harrison County Commission from supporting a yearly festival in the country. Jesus Fest takes place each fall and the county has given $2000 in support of it for five years. The ACLU sent a letter to the county commission last month objecting to the payment as unlawful. The county commission says it also funds other festivals and community events, including the Italian Heritage Festival and the Black Heritage Festival. The funds also do not come out of taxpayer pockets, but from gambling revenues supported by a video lottery and table games.

The 1st Mother's Day

Anna Jarvis organized the first official Mother's Day service one hundred years ago at a church in Grafton, West Virginia. Jarvis handed out hundreds of white carnations at St. Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church. Her mother had taught Sunday school there until her death three years before. Jarvis never married or had children herself. The church eventually became a shrine to mothers. President Woodrow Wilson made Mother's Day a national holiday in 1914.

Sign Coverup

Here's the church sign with the word Lutheran blocked out. St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Charleston, West Virginia made the move after the denomination voted opening the pulpit to gays and lesbians.

Church Covers up Sign

A Lutheran church in West Virginia has covered the word Lutheran on the sign in front of the sanctuary. St. Timothy’s Lutheran Church in Charleston, West Virginia is protesting the decision by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to allow gay clergy. The pastor says he expects the decision will split the denomination.

Clinton in Church

Hillary Clinton went to church on Mother's Day with her daughter Chelsea at the First United Methodist Church in Huntington, West Virginia. Pastor Paul Russell read the story of Pentecost from Acts and told the congregation, “Maybe you've been a comma at some time in your life (but) you and I are not commas to God." Clinton did not speak at the service.