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 Defense officials react to Hegseth's Quantico meeting. Government shutdown is here. Here's what to expect. Colorado wants to give 'peace of mind' on Hunter S. Thompson. President asks nation's top generals to loosen up. Report an error