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.

Circle Concert Series: Saturday, February 20th

February 19, 2010.Reading time 1 minute.

I’m pleased to let you know that I’ll be playing a show tomorrow night of my own, yes my own, music. For a multitude of reasons, that’s become a pretty rare event in the past few years. But the good folks a the Circle Concert Series (Paul and Harold, mainly) have invited me to come […]

Daily Grat: The Deer Shall Lie Down With the Dog

February 18, 2010.Reading time 1 minute.

While surfing around on FB this morning, I stumbled on this YouTube vid: Isn’t that fun? What’s even more amazing is that there’s more where it came from. When I went to YouTube to find the original version, I stumbled on this: Which leads me to say “you get the idea.” Isn’t this great? That’s […]

Ash Wednesday

February 18, 2010.Reading time 3 minutes.

We had a wonderful start to our Lenten season tonight. We had the usual service of ashes, with scriptures and beautiful music. Tonight, I encouraged folks to see the message of Ash Wednesday being one of acknowledging our limitations. Especially when we are young, we like to imagine that we live without them. But as […]

My Fat Tuesday Meal

February 17, 2010.Reading time 4 minutes.

Before I get to my Fat Tuesday meal, which is my “Daily Grat” of the day, let me tell you a little bit about my day. Today was one of those long, but gratifying ministry days. They’re not all like today, and there are days that are pretty dull and slow, but this was a […]

The Enjoyment of Enjoyment

February 15, 2010.Reading time 10 minutes.

This “Daily Gratitude” expands on some things I said yesterday here. I’m calling today’s installment “The Enjoyment of Enjoyment.” When I was a kid, I can distinctly remember the experience of getting joy from having others play with my toys. I was not a perfect child, and I don’t mean to make myself sound more […]

My Two Girls

February 15, 2010.Reading time 1 minute.

Add me to the list of Valentine’s Day haters. Charter member, here. But if I am grateful for anything on this day, I am grateful for my two girls. I love watching them together. They make a beautiful mother/daughter team. They are smart, strong and beautiful. Here are few pics through the years… […]

A Love Song That’s True

February 14, 2010.Reading time 2 minutes.

Been hearing a lot of folks complaining about Valentine’s Day this year. Right there with you, friends. Here’s a song I wrote a few years back that makes fun of most of the love songs we like to play on this day. It will probably be on my next CD: A Love Song That’s True […]

Santa Fe

February 14, 2010.Reading time 2 minutes.

We just got home from the quick trip to Santa Fe. I would love to write more about it, but I’m a little tired right now. Sufficed to say, a trip there is always awesome. This was our fourth, although for two of them we were headed a lot of other places in Northern New […]

The Miracle of Flight, and SW Flight 8

February 12, 2010.Reading time 5 minutes.

I’m here in Santa Fe today. The Judge has a two-day family law conference here, and I tagged along…because it’s SANTA FE. (Duh…) How can you pass up a chance to come here? (We’re coming back tomorrow…) Although, it did feel strange to be leaving Dallas in the midst of the greatest snowstorm in our […]

Snow!

February 11, 2010.Reading time 1 minute.

It’s not a “Snowpocalypse.” For those in the midst of that, it might seem like a Snowpockmark. But we did wake to flakes again today… I think, with snow, context is everything. They say it could be up to five inches today….which, for us, is HUGE. My guess is it still has a very good […]