LaVeyan Satanism was founded in the 1960s by Anton Szandor LaVey. It is without a doubt the most well-known of the Satanic denominations, and is the only one (as far as I am aware) with federally recognized religious status.

Officially, it is known as the Church of Satan, and is headquartered in San Francisco. Anton LaVey passed away in late October of 1997, at which time leadership of the Church passed into the hands of Blanche Barton (a long-time associate of LaVey).

Although at one time Karla LaVey (LaVey's daughter) was participating as a "co-High-Priestess," she has since split from the Church of Satan over ideological differences. She is now the acting High Priestess of the First Satanic Church (founded Oct 31st, 1999), which claims to be a "resurgence of Satanic ideals" closer to the spirit of her father's original teachings.

Although it is true that Satanism existed before him, LaVey can be said to be (with relative authority) the "father" of Modern Satanism. Before LaVey went public with his new Church, and with his many works on Satanic philosophy (The Satanic Bible, The Satanic Rituals, The Devil's Notebook), Satanism was an underground, disorganized, and chaotic religion. Since the formation of the Church of Satan, information has become much more readily available and people had, for the first time, a sense of Satanic identity and organization.

I seem to remember from my reading on this that there is a huge church (or was at one time) in Texas. I don't remember much about it...Do you know anything about it and is it pretty much the same as this one?
Thanks,
Connie