Protesters greet new Greater Church of Lucifer

Protesters gather outside the Greater Church of Lucifer in Old Town Spring on Friday. Protesters gather outside the Greater Church of Lucifer in Old Town Spring on Friday. Photo: Metro Video Photo: Metro Video Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Protesters greet new Greater Church of Lucifer 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

The Greater Church of Lucifer in Old Town Spring opens its doors this weekend, and it has already drawn a congregation of protesters.

On Friday, crowds gathered outside the building in Houston's northern suburbs holding crosses and signs with Christian slogans. Debates quickly broke out among church attendees and protesters over whether or not animal sacrifices would occur, and whether these are actually worse than hunting.

"The pushback we're getting is from some of the more extreme religious groups," said Michael W. Ford, co-president of the church. "We have an absolute right to be here, legally.

"I always feel sorry for so-called Christians who feel so insecure in their belief that they have to come out here and waste their time when they're not going to change our mind and we're not going to change theirs."

The congregation, which follows the seven Luciferian points of power, is among the first of its kind, Ford said. It has also courted controversy since it was announced. The facility was the target of vandalism overnight when someone used a chainsaw to cut a major limb off a large, old pecan tree growing through part of the building that houses the church.

"You would think that whole 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you' philosophy would kind of kick in, but the guys in back of me, I can't speak for them, but they must not speak for all the people," church member Michael Milligan said of the protesters.

While they take the name of the primary antagonist in Christianity, the Church of Lucifer congregants don't actually believe in an afterlife, God or the devil, Milligan said.

He said Luciferians, like those at the Houston-area church, are very different from the Satanists who have evoked panic across America.