FRANKLIN, TN — The handbell choir at Cornerstone Fellowship Community Church has been operating with a single member since November, a fact the church bulletin has acknowledged by listing the ensemble under “Growing Ministries” for the fourteenth consecutive week.

Diane Kowalski, 67, the choir’s sole remaining member and acting director, has adapted her technique to cover all twelve bells through what she describes as “a very focused kind of spiritual multitasking.” She performs from a modified semicircular table she purchased herself and assembled with help from a YouTube tutorial. The arrangement produces what the worship team diplomatically refers to as “texture.”

“We lost Gerald in September, then the Pfeiffer twins moved to Knoxville, and after that it just got quiet,” said Kowalski. “But the music doesn’t stop because the people do. At least, that’s what I keep telling Pastor Ron.”

Pastor Ron Albright, 52, confirmed he has not attended a handbell performance since what he called “the incident at the Christmas cantata,” but said the ministry remains “an important part of our church’s identity and also technically Diane’s identity at this point.”

“We remain prayerfully open to new members joining the handbell choir, especially anyone with more than two hands.” — Pastor Ron Albright, 52

The church’s website lists the handbell choir rehearsal time as Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and notes that “no experience is necessary, just a willing heart.”

At press time, one person had clicked the “I’m Interested” button on the ministry sign-up page, but it was Diane Kowalski testing whether the link worked.