Fresno Church of Lucifer holds youth program after threats, backlash

A Fresno church identified as the Church of Lucifer pressed ahead with its first Tiny Torches youth program after death threats forced organizers to move the event twice. The Saturday gathering centered on arts and crafts, books and a lesson tied to the group’s upcoming Summer Solstice observance, which organizers said was intended to introduce children to esoteric arts and intellectual freedoms.

The event was originally planned for the Woodward Park Regional Library, a Fresno County Public Library branch at 944 E Perrin Avenue in Fresno. Organizers said backlash on social media escalated quickly, drawing thousands of comments and threats serious enough to force the church to change venues before the program could go forward.

Candace Liles, the church’s director of community outreach, said the group was “not doing rituals” but instead reading a storybook and doing a craft. Tambra Asher, the church’s CEO, said the online reaction was intense and that the church had to move the program a second time after the threats continued.

The church described the first Tiny Torches event as “amazing” and positive for participants. Even so, the episode highlighted how quickly a youth-oriented program can become a civic flashpoint when it is connected to Luciferian branding and set near a public library branch serving Fresno’s Woodward Park area.

The dispute also raised questions that extend beyond one weekend gathering: what safeguards are in place when a controversial group seeks space for minors, how public institutions handle threats aimed at their facilities, and how local leaders balance free expression with the safety expectations that come with youth programming. For Fresno County residents, the episode placed the Woodward Park Regional Library and the wider county library system at the center of a broader argument over equal access, public pressure and the limits of tolerance in a family-oriented setting.