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.

The Height of Hypocrisy

March 16, 2019.Reading time 8 minutes.

This week, the New York Times ran a story that proves corruption and cheating among African delegates to the recent General Conference of the United Methodist Church. The story promised follow-up stories to come. I hope they do follow up. Because there are a host of issues that have needed to be addressed for at […]

Our Sick Culture of Competition

March 13, 2019.Reading time 16 minutes.

Before we roast these college cheating scandal parents on the scapegoat-altar of our media culture… Before we throw too many self-righteous stones… And even before we get too high and mighty about the privileged and the wealthy and how they get special treatment (which is all true, of course)… We must turn a harsh light […]

“We Know What We Know” About Methodism

March 2, 2019.Reading time 20 minutes.

“Demography is Destiny” — Auguste Comte Thursday afternoon a United Methodist clergy colleague called me while I was driving to church. I spend a lot of time in the car these days. We talked for about 25 minutes. He was pretty amped up. He told me he’d stayed up until 3 am the night before, […]

Methodism: Post-Mortem and Pre-Vitae

February 26, 2019.Reading time 16 minutes.

This week’s General Conference #gc2019 is the result of a slow-moving train wreck that’s been happening in the United Methodist Church for some thirty years. Most centered in my mind today are all those who are experiencing pain, most especially of all, my dear Methodist LGBTQ friends across the denomination, and all of those who […]

Straightsplaining in the UMC

February 21, 2019.Reading time 14 minutes.

For three years, the United Methodist Church has been engaged in a denomination-wide process of “straightsplaining” to the LGBTQ community. Actually, you could make a strong case that we’ve been straightsplaining since 1972. What is “straightsplaining?” Go ahead, Google it. It’s exactly what you think it is. It’s the rainbow flag community’s version of “Mansplaining.” […]

White Men and Yearbooks

February 11, 2019.Reading time 11 minutes.

The following is a list of pictures of me in my High School and College yearbooks from the 1980s, excluding the standard yearly posed picture… — Picture of me at a Young Life meeting… — Picture of me at Key Club formal, with the other officers, in a dapper all-white tux… — Picture of me […]

Every day Is Christmas Day

January 28, 2019.Reading time 14 minutes.

“Every day is Christmas day, for me…” This was something I once heard my father-in-law say. It was decades ago, now. Richard Garcia Sr. was surrounded by family. It was a Christmas morning when Maria was probably three or four. We are in the living room of his house in Irving, and the scene was […]

Recovering From “Time-Release Suicide”

January 13, 2019.Reading time 29 minutes.

The “then and now” profile meme on Facebook right now has inspired me to finally make a post I’ve been contemplating for several years. For several years now, people have commented on the amount of weight I have lost, and have asked me about it when they see me. I’ve been considering a way, and […]

Journalism Matters

January 9, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

Perhaps the biggest news in our area this week has been a pretty massive layoff at the The Dallas Morning News. For all sorts of reasons, I’ve always felt a special kinship with journalists. I studied to be one (Bachelors in Journalism from UT Austin), and over the years I’ve had the good fortune to […]

A Wall of Lies

January 8, 2019.Reading time 8 minutes.

The President and his administration are *lying* when they claim there’s a “crisis” at the border. The President and his administration are *lying* about the alleged “facts” they use to justify this fake “crisis.” Many observers suggest these lies could be used to declare a so-called “state of emergency” (which would be another lie), and […]