Terry Uselton talks about shooting at Unitarian Church Michael Patrick/News Sentinel


Talking about the deadly church shooting helped Terry Uselton process it.

The longtime member of Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church says he heard the first two gunshots explode inside the sanctuary. 

Even though it was a decade ago, Uselton remembers turning around in a pew near the back of the room and seeing the gunman standing in the doorway that Sunday in Knoxville.

Uselton, a retired teacher, had spent time running through drills at school. He went over mass shooting scenarios in his mind and prepared to stop anyone who attacked his students.  

So when Jim David Adkisson attacked his church on July 27, 2008, Uselton rushed toward him, tripping over another church member cut down by the gunfire.

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"When I went down, the third shot went over my head. I didn't even hear that one," Uselton said. "I was just focused on trying to get to the guy because that's all I could think of — somebody's got to stop him."

Adkisson, who opened fire during a children's musical production of "Annie Jr.," had already fatally shot two people and injured six others in the sanctuary.

Uselton recalls his friend reaching the shooter first and taking hold of the sawed-off, 12-gauge shotgun and pointing the barrel toward the ceiling. Uselton says he grabbed them both and shoved them to the ground. At least three others piled on top and together they restrained Adkisson until police and paramedics arrived.

"We got to him just as he was trying to reload," Uselton said. 

The carnage stopped. But they still had to deal with the stress, shock, grief and fear of living through a deadly church shooting. Help was on the way for that, too. 

UU trauma response ministry helps

The Unitarian Universalist Trauma Response Ministry arrived quickly in Knoxville. The national team, made up of clergy and lay people trained to assist those in traumatic situations, swooped in to provide crisis counseling and administrative assistance. 

People respond to trauma in a variety of ways, said the Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt, who responded to the Knoxville church as part of the ministry team.   

"It’s our job to listen and to help people really understand that at a moment like this all these responses you're having are totally normal responses to a completely abnormal event," McNatt said.


Rosemary Bray McNatt is the founding member of the Unitarian Universalist Trauma Response Ministry Michael Schwab/USA TODAY NEWTWORK - TENNESSEE

The ministry team tries to help those who went through a trauma realize there is life after a violent event, McNatt said. And the sooner that can happen, the better.

"Human beings are incredibly resilient," McNatt said. "If given the appropriate support, they can live a normal life not denying what happened, but incorporating what happened into their life experience."

Uselton understood that. He watched students grapple with traumas throughout his teaching career, and he witnessed friends who served in the military struggle with their experiences after they returned home. 

As the life-changing violence unfurled in the sanctuary that day, his granddaughter was in the play and family members were sitting beside Uselton. They all had to deal with what happened. The stress affected loved ones who were not at the church, including his daughter whose wedding day was the following weekend. 

The gunfire killed Linda Kraeger, 61, and Greg McKendry, 60, the usher and church board member Uselton tripped over that day. Six others were injured. 

After being thrust into something so horrendous, Uselton started to talk through what happened with family, friends and members of the trauma response team. The latter provided a neutral and seasoned listening ear. They knew what questions to ask and talking to them meant Uselton did not have to add to the stress his loved ones were experiencing. 

"I needed to talk to people and I needed to be in a safe place where I could talk to people," Uselton said. 

The ministry also brought together Uselton and the others who took down Adkisson that day to process their shared experience together. Uselton said that crisis counseling session was eye-opening as he listened to each of them share their piece of what happened.

Adkisson, who said he was motivated by anti-liberal bias, targeted the Unitarian Universalist church, which is known for its progressive values and diverse, inclusive beliefs. Eventually, he pleaded guilty in the case and is serving a life sentence.

The shooting drew national media attention. It also became a watershed moment in the life of the trauma response ministry. 

Why the UU ministry started

The ministry formed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, said McNatt, who led a congregation in New York City at the time. She responded to Ground Zero and noticed that only evangelical Christians were providing the ministry they now offer.

Concerned by what she thought was inappropriate proselytizing, McNatt and others began thinking about how to start a UU response team. The denomination does not have a shared creed; instead its members bring a variety of belief sets to church with them.

The ministry largely responded to traumatic situations that strongly impacted just one congregation or community. And their work and its benefits were not widely known within the church and beyond. That all changed in Knoxville. 

Elnora Williams, who hid under a back pew in the sanctuary a decade ago, says the crisis counseling offered by the ministry team helped her. The shooting left her deeply upset and violated, feeling as though someone invaded her church and took over. 

"I was in shock," said Williams, a longtime church member. "My body was so hot. It took me several weeks just to cool off I was so hot." 

She remembers the loud booms that sounded like thunder and the smell of gun smoke. From under the pew, Williams heard people crying and rushing around the sanctuary. 

"I could feel and hear bravery," Williams said. "When Greg McKendry tried to approach the gunman and tackle him I strongly feel like he took a bullet for me because I was sitting right in front of him."

By the next afternoon, she was talking with a member of the trauma response ministry. During the crisis counseling, they listened and consoled and asked what they could do to help her feel better. The talking helped.  

While some members left for good, Williams made the decision to continue to worship at the church. But she kept worrying over her safety and church security.     

"I finally realized that I had to pray about it. I just had to give myself permission to let it go and also to express to them how I was feeling," Williams said. "If I had kept it bottled up, I don't really know if I would have been able to keep going."

The sermons and discussions among the congregation also helped Williams, as did getting more involved at church. But it still took two to three years before she felt comfortable again.

Today, media coverage of mass shootings around the country will bring the memories of that Sunday shooting back. In some cases, members of the congregation will reach out to the new victims, offering support and encouragement from their place of experience.

"It gets better, but it does take time," Williams said. "You've got to have time to process it and you've got to be able to think about it, talk about it, and you have to trust yourself that you're going to be able to get through it. 

"You just can't give up."  


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