Eric Folkerth

For forty years now, I can never think of Jesus’ “Parable of the Two Brothers” without remembering a video we made, way back in 1980. We were just starting our senior year and we produced a retelling off…

This should be obvious, but I’ll start with this today, anyway.

JD Vance does not “own” Christianity.
No denomination or church “owns” Christianity.
No political party “owns” Christianity.

Organized Christian faith is —in both America and worldwide— is in fact,…

Take a good look at this picture below.
Because if you understand the symbolism behind it, you’ll get how it’s a subtle message that deftly sums up everything I want to write to you today.

It’s one person’s response to…

Friday marks twenty-five years since the horror of 911.
This week also marks a forty-ish year return of the Republican Party to my city of Dallas.

This morning, I am reflecting on how these anniversaries coalesce and intersect in how…

This week, Eric again speaks to the controversy between the United Methodist Church and Highland Park UMC in Dallas.
He refers to this second essay, and suggests that TRUST, or lack of it, is a fundamental issue.

Then, Eric turns…

This week, Eric shares about his renewing week in Malibu, California, and also speaks to the break controversy between HPUMC and the United Methodist Church.

This essay is much of the conversation:

Song of the Day: “Rock Me On the…

Today, Eric talks about the scatalogical turn that Jesus takes in a specific Gospel lesson. He’s also interrupted by birds!

Song of the Day: Dan Fogelberg’s “Icarus Ascending.”
In honor of Dan Fogelberg’s birthday.

Here’s my other recorded version of…

This week, Eric compares the message of the Odyssey (the Sirens) to the story of Peter walking on water.

Essay for the week:

Song of the Day:
Eric’s Song: “Voices”
Find it here:

Thank you , , , and many…

Last night, I attended a birthday party for a dear church member and her son’s house. It was a lovely twilight evening, a backyard pool area, a near-Preston Hollow neighborhood, very near my former church….a great night.

And on the…

Beloved Members of Highland Park United Methodist Church,

For those who don’t know me, my name is Eric Folkerth, and I greet you in the name of Christ as pastor of your sister United Methodist Church, Kessler Park United Methodist…

Thank you , , , , and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

It’s time for what my dear friend, Songwriter KC Clifford, calls “Truthbooking…”

I’m going to start today with an extended retelling of a recent hard night I had, because it so clearly leads straight into an important conversation…

“Don’t look down
Though your heart may be weary
Don’t look down
Though your wings are on fire
Don’t look down
Though the night may seem endless

There’s a reason you’re flying
this fast and this far
Let your faith

This week, I play “show and tell” about my trip to Chicago, and also revisit the pictures I took of our trees in the backyard….reminding us again that “growth” takes time and patience.
We also again talk about the Haitians…

We talk about the Parable of the Mustard Seed…and I share two remarkable pictures of our backyard, thirty years apart.

Essay for the week:

Song of the Week:
”Tell Myself,” unreleased from me.

Thank you…

This week’s Gospel lesson allows me a chance to again say:

You are probably reading the “Parable of the Loaves and Fish” wrong.
You’re probably missing a greater point of whole story.

It is my contention that this section in…

Still catching up!
Coffee on the Porch from July 14th.

Show Notes:

This week’s essay that we discuss is here….thoughts on a memorial for Lorenzo, and the painful familiarity of that moment:

Thank you , , , , , and…

Catching up on Coffee on the Porch Archives.
(Sorry this is a month late!)

Thank you , , , and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

A short video to illustrate what I wrote in last week’s essay.

Read that here:

I’ve been wanting to create this “How It Started/How It’s Going” picture series for more than a year now. For reasons that weren’t clear in the moment, I felt especially driven to make it happen last week. It…