Greater Church of Lucifer
Defunct Luciferian organization From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Greater Church of Lucifer (GCOL) was a Luciferian organization founded by Michael W. Ford in 2013.[1] In 2015, it opened the first Satanist temple open to the public, which was located in Old Town Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston.[1][2][3] Media coverage of the temple's planned opening inspired imitators in other countries to follow suit.[1]
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Background
Summarize
Perspective
Black metal musician Michael W. Ford was the leader of the Indianapolis chapter of the Order of Nine Angles from 1996 to 1998.[1] After breaking with the ONA due to its pro-Nazi ideology, he formed the Order of Phosphorus, followed by the Church of Adversarial Light in 2007.[1]
In 2013, Ford established the Greater Church of Lucifer.[1] He led the church with his wife, Hope Marie Ford.[4] Two years later, he announced on Facebook that the GCOL had grown to include multiple chapters in the United States, one in Canada, and several across Spain and Central and South America.[1] He also explained that the Order of Phosophorus would be folded in to GCOL.[1]
According to the Christian Broadcasting Network, founders of the church included Joseph No,[5] and Jacob McKelvy, who later converted to Christianity.[6] McKelvy claimed that he had started the church in his garage, that he hadn't expected it to "become as big as it was", and that he had become disenchanted with its "quest for power".[6]
Philosophy
In 2015, the GCOL published the Wisdom of Eôsphorus, an official statement of its philosophy, based on social Darwinism and Satanism in the tradition of Anton LaVey.[1][2]
At the same time, Michael and Hope Marie Ford have described their religion as "Luciferian witchcraft".[4] Luciferian witchcraft generally ties Wicca and Satanism together, by casting Lucifer as the god of the witches.[1][2] Michael Ford himself published a book titled Luciferian Witchcraft in 2005.[1]
Sociologist Massimo Introvigne has suggested that GCOL emphasized LaVeyan Satanism to its outer circle and to the media, while focusing more on the occult with former members of the Order of Phosphorus and others interested in ritual magic.[1]
House of worship
On October 30, 2015, Ford inaugurated the first Satanist temple open to the public in Old Town Spring, Texas.[1] The GCOL website stated, "The Greater Church of Lucifer is only a 'church' as a play on words".[5] The grand opening of the building was planned as an opportunity for members to meet in person for the first time; until that point, the organization had mainly existed online.[4]
Protest
Over a hundred local residents, mainly Catholic, protested the opening of the church.[7]
The town of Old Town Spring suffered from a boycott in response to the church, The church itself had windows smashed and its roof damaged after someone sawed off the branch of a 200-year-old pecan tree hanging over the church in the middle of the night.[8][9][10][11] Ford stated that The Greater Church of Lucifer was forced to shut down one year later because their landlord refused to renew their lease after receiving death threats.[12][unreliable source?]
See also
References
External links
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