Editing Snake handling in Christianity (section)

== Prevalence ==
Each church body is independent and autonomous, and the denominational name is not consistent in all areas. However they are typically some variation of the name "Church of God" ([[Trinity|Trinitarian]]) or "Church of (Lord) Jesus" ([[Nontrinitarianism|Oneness]]).

The exact membership is unknown, and has recently been estimated as low as 1,000 and as high as 5,000 with possibly fifty to a hundred congregations. According to the ''Encyclopedia of American Religions'', churches "can be found from central Florida to [[West Virginia]] and as far west as [[Columbus, Ohio]]." The snake-handling sect of beliefs and practices go as far as to cross the border into Western Canada in 2004 to [[Lethbridge]] and [[Edmonton, Alberta]].{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

Most religious snake handlers are still found in the [[Appalachian Mountains]] and other parts of the [[southeastern United States]], especially in [[Alabama]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Kentucky]], [[North Carolina]], [[South Carolina]], [[Tennessee]], [[Virginia]], and [[West Virginia]]. In 2001, about 40 small churches practiced snake handling, most of them considered to be [[Holiness movement|Holiness]], [[Pentecostal]]s, or [[Charismatic Movement|Charismatic]]s. In 2004, there were four snake-handling congregations in the provinces of [[Alberta]] and [[British Columbia]], [[Canada]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s4AP30k4IFwC|title=Fabulous Creatures, Mythical Monsters, and Animal Power Symbols: A Handbook|first=Cassandra|last=Eason|date=1 January 2008|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780275994259|via=Google Books}}</ref>

[[Ralph Hood]], professor of social psychology and the psychology of religion at the [[University of Tennessee at Chattanooga|University of Tennessee]], who has studied the snake handling movement, indicated in 2003 that the practice is "currently at a fairly low ebb of popularity".<ref name="ng">{{cite news |last=Handwerk |first=Brian |title=Snake Handlers Hang on in Appalachian Churches |date=7 April 2003 |publisher=National Geographic News |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0407_030407_snakehandlers.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030408010122/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0407_030407_snakehandlers.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 April 2003}}</ref> A 2013 article by [[NPR]] gave a figure of "about 125" churches where snakes are handled, but also indicated that "snake handlers are notoriously private".<ref>{{Cite web|first= John|last= Burnett|url=https://www.npr.org/2013/10/04/226838383/snake-handling-preachers-open-up-about-takin-up-serpents|title=Snake-Handling Preachers Open Up About 'Takin' Up Serpents'|publisher=NPR}}</ref>