[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.11″ custom_margin=”0px|||” custom_padding=”25px|||”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.48″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.11″]<\/p>\n
The jerks remain an integral component of the worship practices of independent Holiness-Pentecostal congregations in Appalachia, as this clip from Peter Adair\u2019s groundbreaking documentary, Holy Ghost People<\/em> (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\u2014\u201cslain in the Spirit,\u201d 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<\/a> to watch the complete film. <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider _builder_version=”3.11″ \/][et_pb_video src=”http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/files\/2013\/01\/Adair1967_WMQ.mp4″ _builder_version=”3.11″ \/][et_pb_divider _builder_version=”3.11″ \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.11″]<\/p>\n Holy Ghost People<\/em>, directed by Peter Adair (1967).<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “Man’s got the Lord. You can get him too!”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":353,"featured_media":596,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" Text.<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[94215,86444,86446,86458,86450,94907,93390,29939],"tags":[86497,86394,86334,93393,93386,93387,93388,86353,93389,93390,93391,93392,29939],"class_list":["post-729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1900-present","category-dancing-exercise","category-falling-exercise","category-film-clips","category-other-bodily-exercises-general-references","category-other-unknown","category-peter-adair","category-west-virginia","tag-bodily-exercises","tag-dancing","tag-falling","tag-fayette-county-w-va","tag-gauley-bridge-w-va","tag-holiness-movement","tag-holy-ghost-people","tag-jerking","tag-pentecostalism","tag-peter-adair","tag-serpent-handling","tag-speaking-in-tongues","tag-west-virginia"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/files\/2018\/12\/WatchClip_Icon.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/jerkshistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Source<\/h2>\n