Guest Pastor This Sunday

by Rev. Eric Folkerth

I hope you’ll all plan to be in church on Sunday as my dear friend, Dr. Owen Ross, will be our special guest preacher. Owen is currently serving as Director of the Center for Church Development in the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church.

He’s a passionate and engaging preacher, and a passionate advocate for immigrants and their families. Owen’s long history in this area extends back to his many years as Senior Pastor at Christ’s Foundry UMC. That congregation consists primarily of members for Mexico and Central American, many of whom are themselves immigrants.

Owen and I were part of 113 clergy from around the nation who were arrested in Washington DC in 2011, protesting the lack of action to support the so-called “Dreamer” families. And, more recently, Owen was one of the lead organizers of the group of 100 clergy who went to the border to better understand the issues there. The picture here is one that I took during our trip, as Owen, myself, and other clergy from North Texas listened to a small group of migrants tell their stories.

Owen’s sermon title is “The Family of God,” and I think it will fit well with our theme of “Welcoming.” God is always calling us to a broader and more inclusive vision of “family” that includes all of God’s children.

So, although I’lll miss you this week (we will be away at “Parent’s/Dad’s Weekend” in Arkansas with our daughter), I hope you will deeply appreciate being inspired and led by my dear friend, Owen Ross.

I’ll see you next week.

Grace and Peace,

Eric

Our Mission Field

by Rev. Eric Folkerth

We considered this picture on Sunday, but here it is again for you to take a look at. Many in our congregation have been captivated by the idea of drawing a circle around our church 1.5 miles, and of considering that to be our primary mission field.

As you can see, it’s a remarkable area of Dallas. It extends from the bustling heart of downtown, and yet also the quiet neighborhoods around our building. It takes in areas that encompass older established families, and young single adults. It includes people of many different races, economic circumstances, and languages.

We’ve been talking about just how diverse our mission field is, but it’s quite impressive to actually visualize in a picture, isn’t it?

We’re going to post this picture up around the church for the next few weeks. The goal will be to encourage us all to be in prayer and contemplation about how we reach and serve this incredibly diverse mission field, to remind ourselves of the incredible opportunities we have in North Oak Cliff.

Several questions for you as you meditate on this picture. Think about all the people who live in our area, and ask yourself:

How shall we, with servant’s hearts and Christ’s love, reach out to this incredible diversity?

How can we listen to them, rather than insist they listen to us?

How can we serve them, rather than insist that they serve our ideas?

How can we embrace and be ready to be changed by their presence, in ways that will give us new life and new hope?

We are already doing many things very well. But we must continue to be visitor-focused, and, as we said last week, to do that with *intention.*

Please pray for our Church and its future. And pray for all the beautiful souls in our mission field. God has well-placed us for just this time. And after considering our mission field, very soon we will turn to conversations about just what it is that God is calling us to do.

Grace and Peace,

Eric

Welcome to KPUMC

“Thank you…”

More than one of you mouthed those words to me as you held up our new Kessler Park name tags on your way out of church Sunday.

Sunday was the first in a short-series titled, “Welcome,” and it was the debut of permanent name tags for our members. This idea is a direct result of our “Get To Know You” sessions where the issue of being more connected together as a congregation came up time and time again.

More than one person suggested name tags. And, so far, you seem to be liking them.

The key, of course, will be for us to *keep* using them, week after week. To change our habits so that wearing them becomes the habit.

If you show up on a Sunday soon and don’t see a name tag for you, don’t fret. We’ll be making more for folks as needed.

But the thanks for this does not belong to me. This was an idea that came from you all, and it was implemented by our great staff and the Congregational Care Committee. So, thanks to them.

As I said Sunday, the word “Welcome” originally meant an act of conscious WILL. In fact, the original word in Old English was Wilcuma…the “Wil” being a contraction of “Will.”

True welcome isn’t just to open the doors and *hope* people find us. It’s a continual act of intention that we must learn and relearn time and time again.

We are already a welcoming Church in many ways. But we can always improve, so that all of God’s children truly know and understand that they are welcome at Kessler Park.

See you Sunday,

Eric