Interesting! As an ex-Catholic that kind of independent organization is pretty alien to me, but intriguing.

I've always been a little mystified by the snake-handling thing, though as I understand it picking up snakes without being bitten to prove your holiness is a fairly common religious motif. It just seems a little weird to make such a big thing about it. But again, it's a Catholic thing- we don't even approve of loud singing in our churches, let alone foot-washin', snake-handlin', and shoutin'. (We don't approve of dropping g's, either, unless we are Irish.)