Shooting at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church

I'm sure some of you saw in the news a few days ago that there a shooting at a church in Tennessee. This was at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. Yes, the same Unitarian Universalists that I am a part of. I was left dumbfounded when I heard the story on Sunday. Our ministers sent a message out on Sunday, which you can read here. WIRB in Knoxville has done some great reporting on the incident, keeping as updated when the second man died later on during the day. They have posted a timeline full of links. Here's just one of the videos available on their website.

Here at UUCA, we held a vigil on Monday night. It was very moving with about 40 or 50 people showing up. We had families that used to attend TVUUC. We had teenagers that had made friends with TVUUC members at The Mountain. We had one lady talk about her fear and anger because being black and gay in the south, UUCA is one of the only places she feels safe, and she was angry that someone would threaten that sanctuary. We lit every candle we set out for the event. It was very moving and a great show of support for our Tennessee brethren.

Personal accounts are starting to be posted. Dr Reginald Osiris writes a very moving prose:

"People looked up, puzzled. Was is a sound equipment malfunction? Part of the scene? I'd never seen "Annie", so I had no idea what to expect. Vicki got up to see what had happened. Then she screamed "Get down, everybody!"

Another personal account from writingjen:

"There were no more shots for a moment, and I saw under the pew that people were running toward the doors ahead of me. I also realized that Hannah was outside. Realize that we had no clear what happened, how many people might be shooting, where he/they had been or come from. I screamed at Rob to go get Hannah, probably no sooner than he himself came to the same realization. He vaulted the single pew in front of us and ran out the stage right back door. My mother-in-law climbed over the same pew -- afterward, she said she must have had one of those adrenaline rushes that enable superhuman feats, because she's pretty sure she'd never make it over a pew under normal circumstances -- in a skirt and heels, no less. Now standing, I could see that most of the people were gone, some were milling around to my right, where it became apparent the injuries were. I saw my mom on the floor beneath her walker -- my dad was nowhere to be seen. I knew Mom would never be able to stand by herself, so I gave Z to his granny and she ran out the same door after Rob with my screaming boy. I climbed over the pew myself and went to mom -- after taking a second to pick up my purse and laptop. Can you believe it? What a dumb thing to do (but lucky, as it turned out)."

This event has touched me very deeply. I have only been a UU for a year or two now, but the sense of community has pulled me in way before this incident. The attacker was angry at the world and blamed liberals for his troubles. This attack could very easily been at UUCA or any other liberal church out there. It's scary and I am glad that I have a large extended family to share this troubling time with.

I was proud to be a UU last week. I am even prouder this week.