The jerks remain an integral component of the worship practices of independent Holiness-Pentecostal congregations in Appalachia, as this clip from Peter Adair’s groundbreaking documentary, Holy Ghost People (1967), clearly indicates. Lubricated by the relentless strumming of guitars, pounding tambourines, clapping hands, and singing, members of the Scrabble Creek Church in Gauley Bridge, West Virginia, fall to the floor—“slain in the Spirit,” as the falling exercise is known today. Their bodies shake, twirl, stomp, and dance. Speaking in tongues, holy laughter, and other charismatic gifts dating to the Great Revival are on full display alongside more recent innovations, including the controversial practice of serpent handling. During a lull in the music toward the end of the film, a young man is seized by the jerks. Click here to watch the complete film.
Source
Holy Ghost People, directed by Peter Adair (1967).
