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.

In the Name of Love

January 16, 2010.Reading time 12 minutes.

“In the name of Love. What more in the name of love.” – U2 “You will always have what you gave to love.” — David Wilcox and Beth Neilsen Chapman “There is no fear in love, for perfect love casts out fear.” — 1 John Oh, the humanity… Oh, the pain… The earthquake in Haiti […]

What To Do For Haiti

January 15, 2010.Reading time 11 minutes.

As I posted earlier, most of my mission friends are now out of Haiti. Although two of their team are still at a hospital in the Caribbean. HPUMC will continue to update their site with the latest public information here. I talked with Lila Foree for along time this morning. What an amazing story they […]

Most of the HP Mission Team are back and safe.

January 15, 2010.Reading time less than 1 minute.

HPUMC is now confirming that 10 of 12 team members are in Dallas. I just had a long conversation with Lila Foree. Ken has been released from the hospital and is resting at home. Much more to say, but not now…for now….great relief….and continued prayers for the two still not home, and all those who […]

Plans Underway to Evacuate the HPUMC Team

January 14, 2010.Reading time 1 minute.

Here is the latest update from HPUMC: “Our plane is in the air on the way to the Dominican Republic where it will pick up Ken & Lila Foree. Ken’s hand is injured, but extent is unknown. Two are en route to Martinique. One has serious internal injuries, the other has broken ribs. Three are […]

Please Do Not Listen to Pat Robertson

January 14, 2010.Reading time 13 minutes.

Good Lord, he’s done it again. Another horrible natural calamity, and Pat Robertson has again opened his mouth, inserted his foot, and generally embarrassed people of faith. I won’t repeat what he has said, but the gist of it is that he has claimed that this catastrophic earthquake befell Haiti because they are under the […]

Another View of our Beautiful World

January 8, 2010.Reading time 1 minute.

Thanks to my Dad for emailing this to me… This is a computer simulation of the world’s air traffic, over a 24-hour period. You can see the path of the Sun and shadows too. As you can see, the traffic increases as the Sun comes up, and slows, as the shadows grow. Take a look: […]

Our Bevo Who Art In Pasture

January 7, 2010.Reading time less than 1 minute.

(A prayer for tonight, zipping around various internet sources this afternoon…) Our Bevo, who art in pasture,Hallowed be Thy horns.Thy University come,Thy will be done, on the field as it is in Austin.Give us this day, our daily hook ’em,And forgive us for nearly losing to Nebraska as we forgive the voters for not giving […]

The 25 Most Listened To Songs on Eric’s iPod for 2009

January 7, 2010.Reading time 25 minutes.

One the great things about having a working iPod again this year is the ability to share the “25 Most Played” songs on my iPod/iTunes again. This exercise always tells something of the story of the year in tune and lyrics. There are different reasons for each of these songs being in the list. In […]

The Most Trying Time of All

January 4, 2010.Reading time 6 minutes.

Although you could probably make a good argument that this post is more appropriate for January 7th, almost no one outside a small group of insiders could tell you why. So, in praxis, what follows is most appropriate today. It’s the final lines of W.H. Auden’s “For the Time Being,” a long drama that he […]

VITÆ

January 2, 2010.Reading time 3 minutes.

Eric Folkerth is a minister, musician, author and blogger. He has been Senior Pastor of Northaven United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas since 2001. During his tenure, church membership has grown almost 30 percent, and a completely new church facility (sanctuary and education building) has been constructed. Northaven is a leading progressive Christian congregation in […]