Lectures on Tap - "Religious Appalachia: Faith, Fangs, and Fire"

📍 Location: Exact address given in confirmation email

📚 Lecture: "Religious Appalachia: Faith, Fangs, and Fire"

🎤 Speaker: Grad Student Chase Viscuse

Join us for a captivating evening with Chase Viscuse as we delve into the unique and often misunderstood world of serpent-handling churches in Appalachia. In this intriguing talk, Chase will explore how believers engage with venomous snakes, drink poison, and handle fire as profound expressions of worship.

We’ll examine the concept of risk as sacred and how these communities derive meaning from danger, revealing essential insights about faith, trust, and belief in action. This exploration invites those who are curious, skeptical, or fascinated to witness a tradition that challenges our assumptions about what it truly means to follow, believe, and surrender.

Chase Viscuse is a graduate student at the Divinity School at the University of Chicago, focusing on religious practices that may seem extreme or puzzling from an outside perspective. His research investigates how faith shapes devotion and risk, particularly in snake-handling communities. Having spent time immersing himself in these practices and attending services with venomous snakes—much to the concern of his family—Chase offers a unique and insightful perspective on this extraordinary faith tradition.

Don’t miss this opportunity to broaden your understanding of faith and community!

Get a drink, connect, and learn at Lectures on Tap! 🙌

Agenda

6:30 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key.

6:55 PM – Host introduction

7:00 PM – Lecture begins

7:45 PM – Audience Q&A

8:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round

8:30 PM – Wrap up.

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Host or Publisher Felecia For The Win