US | snake bite Snakes Again Prove Deadly in Church John David Brock was handling the snake during Kentucky service By Newser Editors and Wire Services Posted Jul 28, 2015 12:44 PM CDT Copied In this May 6, 2012, file photo, Kentucky pastor Jamie Coots sings while holding a rattlesnake during services at the Tabernacle Church of God in Tennessee on May 6, 2012. (AP Photo/The Tennessean, Shelley Mays) A man has died from a snake bite suffered during a church service, says a Kentucky sheriff's office. The Bell County Sheriff's Department said yesterday that 60-year-old John David Brock of Stoney Fork was handling the snake during a Sunday service at a Pentecostal church in Jenson. Authorities say Brock was bitten on his left arm and refused medical treatment. The sheriff's office says Brock went to his brother's home, where he later died; the local coroner pronounced Brock dead. It's not without precedent in Kentucky, where last year a pastor died after being bitten; his son was bitten just months later, but survived after refusing treatment. Snake handling at religious services is most common in Southern Appalachian states, taking its basis from a passage in the Gospel of Mark. Read These Next Updated list of free days at national parks is raising some eyebrows. An incredible hush-hush effort saw 55 cartel bosses brought to the US. Many people quietly struggle with pelvic floor dysfunction. Sydney Sweeney wants to put that jeans controversy to rest. Report an error