Unitarians are rattled by attack on church

Leaders vow resolve after Tenn. shootings

The Unitarian Universalist Association, one of the most liberal denominations on the American religious scene, is reeling from the revelation that the unemployed man who police say opened fire at a member church in Tennessee Sunday cited contempt for liberals and gays among a long list of grievances that motivated his attack.

Dozens of Unitarian Universalist congregations around the nation have held candlelight vigils, including one Monday night in Copley Square, and the denomination's bloggers have written much about the shooting, which took place during a children's performance of "Annie." Two people were killed and several others wounded.

Police have arrested a 58-year-old unemployed man, Jim David Adkisson, who has a history of abuse and alcohol problems and five ex-wives, the most recent of whom was a member of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church.

Although officials of the denomination, which is headquartered in Boston, caution against ascribing a crazy act to a sane grievance, many in the small denomination are clearly rattled.

There was one previous shooting at a Unitarian Universalist congregation. In 2001, police in Brattleboro killed a man wielding a knife in a church there, and there have been several recent shootings at churches of other denominations.

"The first reaction is, 'Why a Unitarian Universalist church, and why go in there when there are children there and try to kill people because of liberalism?' " said the Rev. Kristen Harper, minister of the Unitarian Church of Barnstable on Cape Cod.

"Even though he's crazy, you still wonder, why a liberal church, and how does shooting up liberals make sense?" she said. "For people to use violence against us, it's really sad."

Authorities said Adkisson mentioned his anger toward gays and liberals among other grievances in a four-page letter that was recovered and described by police but has not been made public.

Unitarian Universalists began passing resolutions supporting gay rights in 1970.

"The role that they play is as beacons of hope for people who want to get out of abusive and patriarchal and oppressive systems throughout the country and the world," said Harry Knox, director of the religion and faith program at the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization. Knox flew down to Knoxville for a candlelight vigil on Monday.

"Clearly, Mr. Adkisson is angry at a level that is uncontrollable, that is simply not a rational place, and we can't assign rationality to that," Knox said.

"But it is not going to have an irrational effect on Unitarian Universalism, because their faith is deeply rooted, and they have more than they need by way of spiritual resources to face this challenge."

The small denomination is one of several liberal strains of religious expression in Massachusetts, but clergy say that in parts of the country, its congregations are the main outpost for liberal churchgoers.

"If you ask members of our congregations in the South, they will tell you that they function as sanctuaries in an environment that is dominated by the more fundamentalist Christian traditions, and they're quite clear that one of the functions they play is to be sanctuaries for persons who have a hard time finding sanctuary elsewhere," said the denomination's president, the Rev. William G. Sinkford, who also traveled to Knoxville Monday.

"The shooter clearly articulated that he had a problem with what he described as the liberal movement and said that because he couldn't get to the leaders of the liberal movement, he was going to attack those who supported them," Sinkford said.

"But there's a vast difference between having a philosophical disagreement with someone and entering a sanctuary with a sawed-off shotgun and beginning to shoot, and my judgment is he lost the battle with his demons," he said.

Hundreds of Unitarian Universalists have been speaking out about the shooting on various blogs, on Facebook, and on other sites, fretting aloud about whether conservative criticism of liberals has inspired some to violence.

"It just feels very close to home, and it's very scary to us all," said the Rev. David M. Horst, minister of First Parish in Malden, Universalist. "It is a little shocking why a liberal congregation would be attacked this way. It's such a random, bizarre sort of incident."

Horst said he expects the shooting will embolden Unitarian Universalists, because it has focused attention on their core beliefs.

"I think it's going to make us even more steadfast and even more outspoken," Horst said. "We believe in our message, because we think it's the good news message."

Michael Paulson can be reached at mpaulson@globe.com.