Minister's Letter - Knoxville
Dear Friends,
Across the nation, indeed around the world, Unitarian Universalists are reaching
out from a basis in collective shock, anger and yes, of fear. In Knoxville yesterday, an
angry man, some might say a madman, violated a UU worship service, killed two
people, injured others and traumatized many more. His stated reason was hatred of liberal
values, those values that we share both as a contemporary religious movement and as part
of a centuries-old religious and philosophical heritage.
It is tempting to react by closing our hearts. Closing our doors. Backing away from our
values. "What if something like that happened here?" -- As I prepare to leave the
congregation I've been serving Pennsylvania, and as I'm in dialogue with several other
congregations across the country, I'm hearing these reactions expressed in many different ways.
And I am hearing something else, too. I hear a recognition that we cannot protect ourselves
by being less than our values call us to be. I am hearing words that express commitment to
those things that we believe. "Love is the spirit of this church," reads the header on the
website of the Tennessee Valley UU Church, the words of James Vila Blake. "This our great
covenant: To dwell together in peace, to seek the truth in love, and to help one another."
Thanks to the internet and today's global communication systems, our web of relationship extends
across vast distances . . . and can be as personal as tears shed for the pain of a sister
congregation hundreds of miles away. I encourage you to reach across the miles, sending cards
and other expressions of caring to the Tennessee Valley UU Church and the Westside UU Congregation
in Knoxville. To reach in, connecting and re-connecting with the liberal religious and philosophical
values that shape our core, and to reach out to one another, that this tragedy may inspire us all
to hold our friendships and community more dearly.
May we recall these words adapted from a 13th century teacher:
May we be instruments of peace.
where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
Tonight I will stand with members of Main Line Unitarian Church as we light candles
and mourn the tragedy in Knoxville; tomorrow morning I begin my journey to be with you.
I send caring to you all. May we find the way to forgiveness, to renewed hope and to peace.
Rev. Maureen
Rev. Dr. Maureen Killoran, Interim Minister,
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach, FL
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