Madison Harner

Associate Pastor for Families

Madison is originally from Las Vegas, NV and earned her Associates Degree in General Studies before transferring to the University of Central Oklahoma to major in Marriage and Family Life Education. Knowing she would need a masters degree and having felt the call to ministry she moved to Waco, TX and earned her Masters of Divinity from George W. Truett Theological Seminary in December of 2019.

She is passionate about Christian Education and encouraging every Christ follower to live into their God given gifts wherever those might be.

In her free time Madi likes to be in the kitchen cooking up dinner to share with friends and baking all sorts of yummy treats-everything from cakes and cookies to communion bread and dinner rolls. God’s presence is most often felt while she’s in the kitchen and the ordinary becomes sacred. Traveling and learning from other cultures has been a true joy and she’s had the privilege of doing both local and international missions. This has included trips to Honduras, Peru, and taking a class on Contextual Evangelism that led to spending a week of Spring Break learning in London.

Yoga has been a grounding practice for her over the past year and she loves being outdoors, going on walks, and hammocking with a good book. Henri Nouwen, Jen Hatmaker, Madeline L’Engle, Norman Wirzba, and JK Rowling are among some of the few formational authors that she enjoys reading.

madison@weatherly.org

Harris Gessner

Minister of Music

Harris is a native of Madison, AL where he also serves as choir director of James Clemens High School. He holds a BME in Vocal Studies from Auburn University and a Master’s in Choral Conducting from Emory University. His experience comes from teaching in schools, remaining an active tenor soloist, and as Artistic Director of Alabama Voices, a state-wide choir of music professionals. His ministry experience comes from serving on staff or in interim positions in numerous churches in Auburn, Atlanta, and here in Huntsville.

Harris is driven by the sole focus that our worship services, congregations, and communities deserve the absolute highest level of musical excellence we can provide. He feels incredibly blessed to be named Music Minister at Weatherly Heights Baptist Church.  Harris is married to Bethany and they have two sons, Grant and Sam.

harris@weatherly.org