Greg Stevens

Biographical details

Greg Stevens, aka "Priest Penemue", is a former Minister of TST who was previously Head of Ministry, responsible for TST's ordination process.

He has been criticised for alt-right ties, referring to "ex-gay" Milo Yiannopoulos as "my good friend and colleague" and being pictured with him playing mini-golf in 2016, and editing a book for Mike Cernovich in 2015.

He was dismissed from TST in 2024, during the Memegate schism.

Greg Stevens in his own words

1. My name is Gregory Stevens. I am over the age of 18, of sound mind, and am capable of making this unsworn declaration.
2. I am submitting this declaration under my real name despite the risk of the catastrophic side-effects I may encounter from the controversy surrounding this case.
3. I am a member of The Satanic Temple (“TST”) and hold its tenets as sincere religious beliefs.
4. I joined TST in 2015. I was on the National Council, the body responsible for governing TST's chapters, from 2016 to 2018. I developed the technical framework for our community video streaming website ("TST TV") that launched in 2019, and I continue to provide technical and administrative support for the platform.
5. I currently serve as the Director of Ministry. I supervise the Ordination Council which is a team of five ministers who review and approve candidates for ordination, and plan and organize activities and develop resources for our community of ministers. I developed our ordination program, which launched in 2021 and forms the core religious training for our congregation leadership and other members who wish to become ordained clergy in TST.
6. To become an ordained member of TST clergy requires one to complete a ten-hour curriculum on the history and philosophy of Satanism and The Satanic Temple, pass a final exam with a score of 80% or better, write a self-development essay, pass a background check, and receive a written letter of commendation for community activities and involvement from a member of TST leadership. Every year following their ordination, Ministers of Satan must complete a one hour lesson and receive an updated letter of commendation to keep their ordination active.
7. Half of my role is project management. I brought together a team of ministers in the U.S., Europe, and Australia to manage our weekly online religious services and personally wrote out tracking and best practice documents. I personally created and maintain the "ticketing" system that the Ordination Council uses to keep track of ordination candidates as they progress through the program. I implemented an online library catalog system our ministers use to catalog books available at our congregations, as well as original scripts they have written for Satanic rituals. I hold weekly one-on-one meetings with each member of the Ordination Council to make sure they are making progress with their own projects to help our ministerial community.
8. Half of my role is being a minister for our ministers. I make myself available to hear frustrations and concerns from ministers, offering them advice and encouragement. I personally talk to new ministers who are nervous or unsure of themselves, answering questions about how to get tasks done and introducing them to others in our community. I meet with members and groups who have big ideas for projects and use my experience in the organization to offer suggestions for how to best achieve their goals.
9. The Satanic Temple fills a niche that I think is important and absolutely needed: a religion that provides a sense of community, shared values, and shared purpose among people who otherwise find themselves to be outsiders in society. This is a religion that empowers individuals, but that is also rooted in empathy and community and compassion. These are people worth supporting, and this is a community worth nurturing.
10. When I see the pride in a new minister's eyes when they complete the ordination program, hear cheers from members of a new congregation that has become part of our church, or read a "thank you" email from a member who says that our religious services are the first time they felt connected, safe, and understood in a religious community, I think: I helped to make that possible. This is the most meaningful work that I can imagine doing.