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. Eric was arrested at the White House, defending immigrants and “The Dreamers;” and he’s officiated at same sex weddings. Eric was the 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 to build houses and bring medical care around the globe, to places such as Mexico, Haiti, Russia, Guatemala, and Nepal. He is proud of have shephereded Highland Park UMC's construction of ten Habitat for Humanity homes, (and one Community Center) and helped forge an alliance with Habitat that led to the construction of 100 homes in Dallas, housing thousands of people. His wife, Justice Dennise Garcia, has 20 years experience as a state district judge and appelate justice in North Texas. First elected in 2004, she was the first Latina ever elected to a Dallas County state district bench, and she she left that position whe was the longest currently serving district judge. In 2020 Dennise Garcia was a elected as a Justice of the 5th District Court of Appeals for Texas. She is currently running to be Chief of the 5th District Court of Appeals in the 2024 cycle. They have the world’s best daughter, Maria, who is a practicing professional counselor in Dallas. Find links to Eric’s music-related websites, at the top of this site’s navigation menu.

Brief Easter Thoughts

April 17, 2006.Reading time 7 minutes.

It’s far too late to really blog extensively on Easter this year. We had a fine, fine morning at church. Really good crowd. All was well. Had a great time with family this afternoon too. My own thoughts about Easter this morning were primarily inspired by Sarah Dylan Breuer; one of the finest online preacher/writers […]

Bleeding Purple Podcast

April 16, 2006.Reading time 1 minute.

Leif Hanson is a podcaster who has created an interesting religious-based podcast called “Bleeding Purple Podcast.” And old internet friend (meaning: I’ve known him virtually for many years, not that he’s a geezer) sent him a copy of “Purple Land,” and he liked it enough to use it in a promo for his show… Hansen’s […]

Monster Truck Liturgy

April 14, 2006.Reading time 2 minutes.

Most religious folks could stand to laugh more. Often, they’re either obsessed with their own personal holiness, or obsessed with the fight for social justice. And, either way, these attitudes don’t lend themselves to side-splitting humor. Frederick Buechner once had a character in his novel called “the joking cousin.” A native American, that person’s task […]

Deep Ellum Festival Pics

April 12, 2006.Reading time 1 minute.

Here’s a shot of us early in the hour: This was the “Texas Singersongwriter Stage” and as you can see it was at the corner of Malcom X and Main Streets. It was incredibly windy that morning, and this was the first set of the day. The set was sponsored by my friends at the […]

MegaMarch: Thoughts on an Historic Day, Immigration, and Racism

April 10, 2006.Reading time 18 minutes.

Dennise skipped church (don’t tell…) to get down there early, and meet the other elected Latino/a officials who would be marching at the head of the parade. I’m proud to tell you that she was able to help lead the march, locked arm in arm on the front row, alongside our very good friend, Rafael […]

Return to Sequoyah

April 6, 2006.Reading time 2 minutes.

I’m headed back to Mount Sequoyah today, the retreat center that inspired the song. And, I’m heading back to see many of the very people that inspired the song, actually. One of our group of friends, Larry Norman, has orchestrated a reunion of sorts, and many of our old gang are up there all this […]

A Magical Night

April 1, 2006.Reading time 2 minutes.

Wow. I’m speechless. It was a truly wonderful, wonderful night. The Dan Fogelberg Tribute Show went really, really well. All those rehearsals paid off, the band really came together and was TIGHT. The instrumental stuff sounded good. The vocal stuff sounded good. From our perspective on stage at least, the sound mix was really good. […]

Last Living Legacy Lookahead (Come to the show, and I’ll stop all aliterations…)

March 31, 2006.Reading time 1 minute.

Just got back from our Thursday night dress rehearsal for the Dan Fogelberg Tribute Show tomorrow night. If you missed my blog about it a month ago,click here. I can now report to you my fears. After Monday’s rehearsal, I was really worried. We were stumbling through almost all our parts. The sound was terrible. […]

A New Puppy

March 15, 2006.Reading time 1 minute.

Yes, he’s a REALLY CUTE puppy…seriously cute. He comes to us, via one of the clerk’s in Dennise’s court, whose dog had a litter about six weeks back. To the best of anyone’s knowlege he’s part labrador, and part terrier. In other words, an “original.” (see a short movie of Scruffy) We still have our […]

Taking Stock of Bonds

March 14, 2006.Reading time 12 minutes.

A couple of years back, a funny commercial ran all throughout baseball season. It featured Barry Bonds taking batting practice by himself, in a virtually empty San Francisco ballfield. Between every crack of the bat, you could hear a ghostly voice whisper over the PA system: Barry…it’s time for you to go…it’s time for you […]