Adelaide Lyle, a Sunday school teacher in the small town of Marshall, North Carolina, recounts a time 10 years ago when a man named Carson Chambliss came to town and became the minister of the church she had attended. He moved the congregation to a new building and changed the church’s name. When a member of the congregation—79-year-old Moly Jameson—was bitten by a snake during a service, Chambliss insisted that she would either be healed by God or taken to heaven if that was God’s will. A few days later, Molly was discovered in her garden, dead. Adelaide visited Chambliss and told him that she would no longer attend his church and that she was removing the Sunday school students as well. Chambliss dismissed Adelaide’s concerns about Molly.

Now, Chambliss has asked to speak to Adelaide. The day before, she attended the funeral of a young boy who died during Chambliss’s service. Adelaide meets Chambliss inside the church, where he recites scripture to her and chides her for her lack of faith. Adelaide brings up the dead boy, named Christopher (but referred to by most as “Stump”), insisting that Chambliss is responsible for his death.