Dallas City Council Invocation Prayer

Below is the Invocation Prayer Rev. Folkerth wrote for the Dallas City Council meeting on October 23 of this year.

Gracious and Loving God,

As we gather for this meeting of city council today, we are still suffering the aftermath of a horrific storm on Sunday. And so it is that before all else, we pray this day; we pause in prayer to remember the horrific tornado that struck our city this weekend.

We pray first, and most especially, for those who have lost their homes, or whose homes have suffered great damage. We pray for school children who have lost their schools. For the faithful who have lost houses of worship. For small business owners who have lost storefronts. We grieve the loss of ancient and stately trees which gave our neighborhoods a sense of permanence and history.

Comfort all of these. Send your mercy and grace to them. Swiftly and very soon, may they feel a sense of new life, new hope and return to a new normal that helps to temper the loss they have suffered.

But God, in the midst of tragedy, we also pray prayers of thanks. First, we give you thanks that there was no loss of life. We give you thanks that incredible technology and communication allowed so many to be ready in the face of the storm. We give you thanks for first responders and their heroism. We give you thanks for utility workers. We give you thanks for neighbors helping neighbor in their time of great need.

We give you thanks for these elected and appointed city staff in this room, and for all they have done to serve your people in this time. We know that some of the problems caused by this storm will take a great deal of time to unwind. And so we ask you to give all of us in your city patiences…as we make our way together through this uncharted time.

So many of your people have come together to support one another these past days. Help us all to remember that kindness, mercy and compassion. And may the goodness of neighbor helping neighbor be replicated a thousand times across your city in the days to come.

So…having named all this before us today, we pray for these servants around this horseshoe; who serve you as our elected representatives. We pray for our mayor. We pray for our councilmembers. We pray for their families.

Each day that they serve, we ask that you give them wisdom instead of a thirst for power.

May you give them thick skins when inevitable criticism… fair or not….comes their way.

May you remind them, each day, of the privilege and honor that it is to sit around this horseshoe and serve your people.

And finally, then, may you renew the servant hearts of your mayor and council. That they will always seek to serve the least, the lost, and the left out among us.

May they never hide behind the will and bidding of the powerful and the well connected….but may they show courage to lead your city in bold and new ways. In fact, may they stand up to the powerful, and never be afraid to speak the truth to power.

Remind this council, O God, that how we treat the least, the left-out, the powerless, and the vulnerable is how we will be judged. We will not be judged by our charity to them. We will be judged by how our city policy lifts up (or does not) the least, the left-out, the powerless, and vulnerable.

And at the end of their days in service to you, O God, may you forgive all that they will have left done or undone…by conscious or unconscious choice. May you remind them of your unfailing love for them as your children. And may they feel your unfailing grace and strength throughout all their days.

In your holy and gracious name we pray….Amen.

Coffee With the Pastor

Once a month, usually on the Second Sunday of the Month, I plan to host a “Coffee With the Pastor” time in my office. This will be a time where recent visitors and/or new members will be invited for a time to learn more about Kessler Park, and allow me a time to listen to each of them and their concerns.

I’ll plan to do this each month, even if nobody shows, trusting that once we get into the routine, folks will indeed start to come by.

I probably undercut my own brilliant idea this month, in that last week I actually met personally with two visitors for coffee in the neighborhood.

(So many coffeeshops…so little time…)

I mentioned those meetings in my sermon Sunday. In both those meetings, *both* of these visitors were grateful for the generous welcome and genuinely open-hearted feeling they got from their visits to Kessler Park.

They talked about how they loved our inclusive and progressive theology. They talked about how they had been warmly greeted by you on Sundays.

I say this to remind you of the point of last week’s sermon: “Remember to Be Grateful.”

Sometimes, as we said Sunday, we are so close to our own routine that we can’t actually see how blessed we are. We get busy, we get distracted, we just start to take certain things for granted. Sometimes it takes outsiders to see what we no longer do.

These two visitors see us with *their* eyes, and they are excited and touched by the community we have at Kessler Park.

It’s a tough world out there. There is much wrong with the world. The news is a weekly parade of horrors. And everyone is busy with family and commitments. So, it can be easy to forget just how rare a church like ours still is…progressive in theology, warm in Spirit, welcoming of all, passionate about connecting to the world.

I give thanks for the community at Kessler Park. And these visitors did too.

So, as I said, I’ll be doing “Coffee With the Pastor” every month. Nobody came this month. (As I said, I undercut my own plan…) But I trust they will in the future.

If you’d like to help spread the word, you will always be able to find the dates for upcoming gatherings at this link on our website.

See you Sunday,

Eric Folkerth

Rev. Kay Ash

by Rev. Eric Folkerth

Now and then, I want to use these weekly columns to brag about our great staff. I intend to write you about each of them, eventually. Today, I’d like to start out by bragging on Kay Ash.

In the past two weeks, I’ve seen Kay do remarkable things with two different groups of children. Each Wednesday night, she takes a large group of neighborhood kids —who have found our church and the incredible program we now have for children— and she shares a story time. I’ve now watched in awe several times, as the children sit spellbound by her storytelling skill.

I saw this same skill last week with the Kessler School kids too. Once a month, we lead chapel for the Kessler School children. On a morning last week, Kay grabbed and held the attention of those 100 or so elementary children, through storytelling and song.

In both cases, the children were mesmerized as they listened to Kay tell stories of the Bible and our faith.

I told Kay after both events something I hope you all realize too: It’s an incredible gift to be able to do that…to be able to keep and hold the attention of children as you spin out a story. Not everybody can do it, but Kay can.

In case you didn’t know, we are averaging 25-30 children on Wednesday nights, who are coming for supper, a craft, playtime…but always also a time of prayer and a Bible story led by Kay. Many of these are neighborhood kids who we are privileged to serve and to help, in our way, with their spiritual and social development.

She is slowly, and masterfully, working through the entire Biblical story with them, using words and visual aids each week that help her tell a story at a child’s level.

Kay has also done marvelous things to bring new organization and structure to our church’s “Parent’s Day Out” (PDO) program. The care with which she’s shepherded the school through a challenging transitional time is impressive.

We have a newly formed “Parent’s Group” for our PDO program. This is a group that has bubbled up from among the PDO families. Their goal is to function as something akin to a “PTA” for the program. They arose, I’m convinced, because Kay’s presence has inspired them to get involved and give of their own time and talents to support the school.

And, finally, I know you all appreciate Kay’s leadership in worship, and the caring pastoral presence she brings to our worship life every Sunday.

God bless Kay Ash for her many ministerial gifts and skills. I give thanks for her presence at Kessler Park. I’m sure you do too.

See you on Sunday,

Eric Folkerth