Brenda Harrison

Brenda Harrison, who can be spotted singing alto in the Chancel choir or performing with the Handbell choir, first visited Haygood in summer 2021. The pandemic had shut down many churches in the area and she had, in her words, “hopped around” various churches. She’d worshipped via video services but asked her neighbor, Miranda Hitti, about Haygood.

“I had been worshipping by only video for over a year and I wanted to go to “real” church…. I asked Miranda when her church would reopen,” said Brenda. She said, “We never shut down.” Since Brenda was brought up in the Methodist church In Florida, she decided to give it a go at Haygood. And she kept going, welcomed warmly by Woody Driskill, Will Zant, and Wally Rice. “They were so approachable and so real – they made me feel part of the neighborhood church,” she said.

“Haygood has been a huge blessing in my life and I wish it had happened sooner. I have even asked God ‘why didn’t you lead me here sooner?’”

Her friendship with choir member Martha Smith led her to handbells, which have become something of a mental health boost. “I love Sundays and Wednesdays,” Brenda says of the practices and then worship services. “Handbells and choir practice are so difficult and require such concentration that I can’t think about anything else then. It’s like getting a brain break.”

That is not to say handbells is easy — and certainly not as easy as the players make it look to the congregation. “The problem with bells is you have to have everyone there… and when people travel during the summer or are gone, we have to have subs.” Brenda herself handles four bells: A, A flat, B, and B flat.

Church is not her only enthusiasm. Brenda has a busy job, some real estate properties that she manages, long-time friends she goes to festivals with, musical events, and traveling. But she states emphatically, “This is the best part of my life.”

Anne Dukes talked with Brenda Harrison in 2025.