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.

Show Tonight in Fort Worth

March 11, 2006.Reading time 2 minutes.

Haven’t blogged the past few days, mostly because of being very busy but also from being somewhat sick. It’s just allergies. Allergies get me pretty bad once or twice each Spring, and this is one of those weeks. What they get in me most of the time is my throat….they seize up my throat so […]

Buck O’Neil

March 2, 2006.Reading time 4 minutes.

Mar/01/2006 08:08 AM Filed in: HSOs from a Bitter P1 Like many folks, I didn’t really know of Buck before the famous Ken Burn’s documentary. But after that aired, it felt like Buck was an old friend. Buck lives in Kansas City, and has been a champion for the players of the old Negro League […]

Hunger: Ugly Truths About Who Is And Isn’t Hungry in America

March 1, 2006.Reading time 8 minutes.

One of the great blessings in my life has been to get to know many of the folks who provide social services to the poor, elderly, hungry and disadvantaged in the Dallas area. Bruce Buchannon is the director of the Stewpot, a ministry of First Presbyterian Church downtown that has grown over the years into […]

Barbara Jordan (Yes, she really was from Texas)

February 28, 2006.Reading time 5 minutes.

These days, when you say you’re from Texas, you’re likely to get a few smirks and comments about politicians from our state. Whether it’s Rick “Good Hair” Perry, or either of the George Bushes, the politicians folks hear about from our state tend to be conservative, and tend to be hated by just about as […]

Domestic Relations (It’s a kind of law, and a new novel)

February 24, 2006.Reading time 9 minutes.

Charles Geilich is a friend to both Dennise and me. He’s the cohost of a radio show, “A Lawyer and a Cop,” that I’ve been a guest on a couple of times in the past year. He and his wife, Mary, are also the friends who have really great Maverick tickets. (I offer both of […]

The Silence of the Voting Machines

February 22, 2006.Reading time 4 minutes.

Last night, Maria and I went with our favorite judicial candidate to a forum in North Dallas at Fretz Park Recreation Center. It was a joint meeting of North Dallas Democratic Woman, North Dallas Democrats, and other sponsoring groups. And there was a good turnout. Probably more than a hundred folks. Maybe even a hundred-and-fifty. […]

The Frozen Margarita: How Tex-Mex Libation Met 7-11 Technology

February 19, 2006.Reading time 4 minutes.

In the last entry in this section, I waxed about my love for Tex-Mex; and how, if you love it too, then there’s something you love about Texas. This entry is sort of it’s own special subset of the last one. It’s about a special part of the Tex-Mex universe: the Frozen Margarita. Perhaps one […]

TEX-MEX. Does YOUR State have an entire style of food named after it?

February 18, 2006.Reading time 8 minutes.

When I was fresh out of grad-school, I took a trip to Washington DC with my sister Dianne and my Dad. While there, I reconnected with an old friend, who was now living in Georgetown. She insisted that we come by her place in and around lunchtime one day, so she could take us to […]

When Religion Goes Bad. Or, When Religious People Do (A Terrying Video Symbolizes a Very Real Issue)

February 17, 2006.Reading time 15 minutes.

But, sadly, we tend to sometimes forget what great religious teachers like Jesus actually said and did, and we sometimes reduce religion down to a dualistic set of rule following. These rules tend to describe a kind of fundamental dualism that this kind of religion offers up as explanation for the the very nature of […]

Dan Fogelberg

February 16, 2006.Reading time 21 minutes.

Feb/15/2006 07:47 AM Filed in: Balcony People (Note: I’ve done a little reorganization of the blog today, and created a new category called “Balcony People.” Joyce Landgraff created the term some years back, to describe folks living, dead, fictional, and non, who were her support system….her cheerleaders….her inspiration. It seems to me that part of […]