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.
This week marks the 100th anniversary of the still-amazing “Christmas In the Trenches.” Even 100-years down history’s road, it’s an amazing story, and the subject of my December column for the Preston Hollow Advocate. Read it here. And here’s the way I first heard about it…the great song by John McCutcheon. Well worth your time […]
A Christmas song from the great David Wilcox. Basically, what would happen if you imagined that Jesus’ entry into the Temple took place during, say, this very week during Christmastime, at a shopping mall near you. Same story, really. Same. Exact. Story. Which is what makes it brilliant. Listen here: Lyrics here. Available as a […]
It’s Thanksgiving morning, and I thought I’d jot off a few thoughts for the day. The Judge is busy cooking. The Divine Miss M is watching the parade on TV. Daisy is freaking out. It must be it’s own special hell to be a dog with Thanksgiving cooking going on all around you. Unlike many […]
The more I meditate on it, the more completely insane it seems that Charles Manson has been issued a marriage license. Soon, if reports are to be believed, he’ll be legally married in California. A marriage that would be recognized by my home state of Texas. Meanwhile, the 15 to 20 legally married same-sex couples […]
Connection is playing a show this Friday at Northaven. We’re again raising money for a good cause: fighting the scourge of Ebola in Africa. But this morning, the show became a little more poignant. Hours ago, Dr. Martin Salia died from Ebola in Nebraska. What you may not know is that he’d been working in […]
Thanksgiving dominates November. And whatever our religion, we all celebrate the holiday. In fact, more than any other national holiday, Thanksgiving has profound spiritual roots. But almost as popular in our culture today is the day after Thanksgiving: the so-called “Black Friday.” The largest, craziest shopping day of the year. You can’t miss the stories […]
Last Friday, I made a second attempt at a long write with my new Go Pro camera. Here’s the route on a map. It came out pretty well, and I made a film of it: Great thanks to the folks at Northaven Church for their generous gift of this camera. It was a lot of […]
Veterans Day, like Christmas, has a powerful holiday-kernel buried deep within, that is worthy of our attention and observance . Unfortunately, like Christmas, our culture has mangled and obscured that kernel, sometimes beyond recognition. The culture has turned Christmas into an orgy of shopping and greed. The culture has twisted Veterans Day into an orgy […]
Please remember to vote today, if you have not already. Many people are frustrated with our political process, and feel their one vote does not matter. If you don’t vote, it may feel satisfying to say “a pox upon you both!’ But the next day, somebody’s still going to be elected. And it’s not just […]
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