Terrible news this morning. Some man entered our church with a shotgun and started shooting indiscriminately into the sanctuary while children were performing "Annie" on stage. At this point, one person is dead and five are critically wounded. Three members of the congregation bravely tackled the gunman and held him until he was caught by Knoxville police.
I was not there this morning as we had friends visiting from out of town. But we seriously considered attending with our friends. This is such a shock to the community here. Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church is such a welcoming community. Though it's decidedly more liberal than East Tennessee as a whole, we have very good relations with the rest of the community. I don't understand why anybody would do this. All we know right now is that the suspect was not connected to the church in any way. I have no idea if the man had some sort of political or cultural agenda (TVUUC had just put up a sign welcoming gays to the congregation), or if it's just some lunatic acting for no reason at all.
Please keep the members our church community in your thoughts and prayers today. This is such a shock to our congregation and our community as a whole.
Update [2008-7-27 16:25:55 by Elrod]:
I just wanted to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers. The Knoxville community - people of ALL faiths and backgrounds - has shown wonderful support too.
We still don't know the motive of the assailant. He used a double-barreled shotgun and fired three shots off before trying to reload, when he was tackled by three very courageous men. The fatality at this time was a warmhearted man named Greg McKendry, who everybody in the congregation loved. He was an usher standing next to the door when the gunman started shooting. Please especially keep Greg and his family in your thoughts and prayers.
[Update 2X]
Sadly, a second victim named Linda Kraeger, 61, has passed away. Like many other attendees today, she attends a Unitarian church in Farragut, which is just west of Knoxville. In fact, a few of the victims may have been members of the Farragut-based Westside UU Church.
There are four Unitarian congregations in the Knoxville area. TVUUC is the biggest. In addition to Westside is the Oak Ridge UU Church and the newest - my own - the Blount County UU church (recently renamed Foothills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship and not quite officially on our own yet). The Blount County services here in Maryville are held every other week, and today was an "off week." Several Blount County members were at the downtown Knoxville church today for the performance.
For those who don't know, Unitarian Universalism is an eclectic religious faith drawing from traditions around the world. We are based initially in Protestant Christianity - with a heavy dose of Enlightenment-era Deism - but we regularly incorporate prayers from Judiasm, Hinduism, Buddhism, Native American religion, Islam and various non-theological traditions.
It is also a very welcoming place for those who don't feel comfortable in a more traditional Christian setting. That said, the outpouring of sympathy and support from across the theological spectrum here in East Tennessee has been very moving. Whatever we all believe, we all know that a house of worship is a place for reflection and not a place for violence.
For those in the Knoxville area, there will be a candlelight vigil tomorrow night at 7:30pm at the Second Presbyterian Church, our wonderful neighbor on Kingston Pike.
[Update]
According to the KPD news conference, the murderer wanted to kill "liberals and gays." He released a four-page manifesto to that effect, which has not been released.
The worst fear we had at TVUUC was that this was a disgruntled church member. Fortunately that was not the case.
But the second fear we had was that he was attacking the values - liberal and tolerant values - of TVUUC. And it appears that's what drove him to do this.
Folks, this was a terrorist attack against those who believe in tolerance and human equality.
This was a terrorist attack against those who open their houses of worship to gays and lesbians.
This was a terrorist attack against those who believe that a church is a house of worship and reflection and love.
Think for a moment about what this man did. He hated liberals and gays so much that he packed 73 shotgun shells, entered a church filled with children performing a play, and tried to kill as many people as he could. Did Greg McKendry deserve to die for this man's agenda? Did Linda Kraeger deserve to die for this man's agenda? Did these children deserve to be terrorized and traumatized so that this man could make a point?
Let's call this act what it is: terrorism.