Author: ericfolkerth

Eric Folkerth is a minister, musician, author and blogger. He is Senior Pastor of Kessler Park UMC United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas. Previously, he was pastor at Northaven UMC in Dallas for seventeen years. Eric loves to write on topics of spirituality, social justice, music/art and politics. The entries on this blog reflect that diversity of interests. His passion for social justice goes beyond mere words. He’s been arrested at the White House, defending immigrants and “The Dreamers,” and he’s officiated at same sex weddings in his churches, in defiance of what some believe is Methodist teaching. Eric is an avid blogger and published author, and 2017 recipient of the prestigeous Kuchling Humanitarian Award from Dallas’ Black Tie Dinner. (Human Rights Campaign) Eric has led or co-led hundreds of persons on mission trips around the globe, to places such as Mexico, Haiti, Russia, and Nepal. He has worked with lay persons to build ten homes, and one Community Center, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Dallas. He’s a popular preacher, and often tackles challenging issues of social justice in his writings and sermons. His wife, Judge Dennise Garcia, is a State District Judge for Dallas, County. As judge of the 303rd Family District Court, she consistently gets high ratings from area lawyers, and was named “best judge” by The Dallas Observer. First elected in 2004, she was the first Latina ever elected to a county-wide bench in Dallas County, and is currently the longest service district judge in that district. She was re-elected for a fourth term in 2018. They have the world’s best daughter, Maria, and an incredible dog, Daisy. Find links to Eric’s music-related websites, at the top of this site’s navigation menu.

How Eric Ruined your Cinco de Mayo

May 5, 2023.Reading time 9 minutes.

It’s Cinco de Mayo and so, like every stereotypical White person in America, I am thinking about Tex Mex.Maybe I’ll go get some at one of my favorite places… Maybe we’ll head over to “Acapulquena.”Oh RIGHT…they CLOSED… Well then, maybe we’ll walk over to “Matt’s Lakewood.”Oh RIGHT…they CLOSED… Well, then, maybe we’ll jump over to […]

Open Letter to Gov. Abbott (re: Cleveland shootings)

May 2, 2023.Reading time 3 minutes.

Dear Gov Abbott, I am writing you as a Christian pastor, and calling out your inclusion of the phrase “illegal immigrant” in your tweet regarding the senseless murders of five innocent people in Cleveland, Texas. I would remind you how our common faith in Jesus Christ insists that “In Christ there is no Jew or […]

We Are Bad at Seeing (The Emmaus Road and Stevie Ray Vaughan)

April 26, 2023.Reading time 18 minutes.

Meditating on it this week led me to recall those four bystanders that got shot by so-called “good guys with guns, a book by Malcomb Gladwell, and (weirdly) Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Strap in, folks…

What Cornered White People Sound Like

April 14, 2023.Reading time 5 minutes.

Everyone needs to hear this leaked video. It reveals several things about America, all at once. It highlights our polarized and racialized politics… It could have been recorded in any statehouse in the old Confederacy, as a conversation White men have when they think nobody is listening. There is no question that it reconfirms every […]

“Drag Bunch” and what REALLY “Grooms” Our Children

April 14, 2023.Reading time 8 minutes.

Why are we not asking about the “grooming,” —the disturbing messages of sexually gendered roles— these shows reinforce for humans of all orientations….for little girls, for little boys, for mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters?

Catfishing Bots, Fentanyl, and Deeply Frayed Community

April 13, 2023.Reading time 15 minutes.

I’m simultaneously deeply annoyed and deeply saddened by the vast number of Bot-led catfishing proposals I get these days via social media. It started out as just annoyance. And then, as a way of dealing with that annoyance, I decided to save a week’s worth…not to read them…just “screen shot and save”…then come back later. […]

Uncomfortable Metaphors

April 10, 2023.Reading time 22 minutes.

It’s now Monday, and to my amazement, my hastily dashed-off post “Good Friday” —about the original meaning of the crucifixion in Jesus’ time— continues to be shared at a stunning pace.It’s now approaching 3,000 Facebook shares, and thousands of remarkable and kind comments. My best guess is: it’s still being shared around 100 times an […]

Good Friday

April 7, 2023.Reading time 10 minutes.

“Um…so what’s that interesting necklace you’re wearing?” I am at the Kerrville Folk Festival, on a sweaty May afternoon. I’m with a group of fellow musicians, and one has again asked me a question I’ve been asked many times before. She’s asking about the necklace I wear every day. “It’s a ‘Lethal Injection Crucifix,’” I […]

Reflecting on “The Whale”

March 14, 2023.Reading time 16 minutes.

Is it possible to have differing, but equally valid, moral and ethical positions on the film “The Whale?” I sure hope so. I could be about to test this in what follows. Whatever your views on the film, on food, on obesity, on “fatphobia,” —that entire constellation of issues— I invite you to read this […]

Texas Independence Day

March 2, 2023.Reading time 9 minutes.

Today is Texas Independence Day. As a student at UT Austin, I remember celebrating this day with all the pride I could muster.Today, years later, I’m thinking about what I didn’t know then, what I do know now, and the significance to all of us Texans today. If like me, you took “Texas History” in […]