Moving Residue

We all know what residue is. It's that old, ugly, stained, caked, dirty, smelly material that remains at the bottom of a coffee cup when the drinker has finished all but the dregs and walked away leaving the cup to dry. In a short time, the residue hardens and becomes difficult to remove. It may even permanently stain the inside of the cup to the point where not even bleach and a dishwasher will remove it. Try as we might to remove it, the residue remains.

When I lift the lid of my coffee grinder to put new beans in to grind, the aroma is still there — fresh, fragrant, and inviting me to grind and drink more. It is that wonderful smell from the residue of the previously ground beans that invites me to partake again and again. I look forward to it, first the residue's aroma, then the grinding of the new beans, the making of the coffee, and finally the drinking.

It is moving time for United Methodists. Pastors are going to annual conference; some will return, some will be moved to a new church. It is also moving time for musicians. Whether the moves are tied to pastors' moving or not, summer is the peak season for employed musicians to move. Some retire. Some take up a new vocation. Some return to school, while others graduate from school and look for their first professional church music position.

It occurs to me that moving musicians are similar to the coffee in the cup. When you move from one position to another, you inevitably leave some residue behind. Will it be the fresh and inviting kind that makes people look forward to a new experience? Will all your hard work, the recruitment, the teaching, the hospitality, and musical discipling that you've done continue to make people come back even after you're gone? Will your hours in preparation, rehearsal, worship, and performance be a fond memory and a valuable asset that will contribute to future growth and ministry?

Or will the residue you leave behind be the kind that leaves a permanent stain, that makes people turn away, or worse, find a way to cleanse, disinfect, and permanently remove what remains? This, too, unfortunately happens in church music. There may have been staff conflicts, bad relationships, harsh words, regrettable actions, words and letters exchanged in anger and frustration.

And if you are a newly-moved musician, just beginning a new ministry with a new church, how will you react to the residue of your predecessor. Will you leave it in the cup and put it away in the back of a high cupboard where no one will see it, think about it, or remember it? Will you get out the bleach and run it through the dishwasher, hoping to remove all evidence of its prior existence? Or will you open the lid, smell the aroma, grind and brew a new pot, and invite others to partake?

No, moving and relocating are not the same as washing a dirty coffee cup — real life, ministry, and people are always complex. But I hope if you are moving from an existing situation or moving into a new one that your experience will be good, healthy, memorable, and joyous, seeking to leave something good behind that can be built upon, and seeking to build constructively upon whatever you find new.