Dreaming and Scheming

by Rev. Eric Folkerth

I’ve been thinking more about the song that gives us our theme for this Lenten season: “Come and Find the Quiet Center.”

The last lines of the last verse are calling to me today, and I hope they are calling to YOU as we move through this season:

“There's a place for deepest dreaming
There's a time for heart to care
In the Spirit's lively scheming
There is always room to spare”

It is God’s Spirit who is always “dreaming” and “scheming” with us to create new and lively experiences and a rich full life.

I can assure you, there is a LOT of “dreaming and scheming” happening at KPUMC right now. The imminent departure of The Kessler School and the continued split within the UMC have both opened many doors for us to creatively vision our future. It’s a time of great challenge and opportunity.

Some of those plans are underway now. More will be soon. Very soon you’ll see dirt flying around here…first outside on the playground…later as we renovate downstairs rooms for an expanded Kessler Park Day School.

We hope you’ve seen the invitation to an All Church Potluck:

“What’s Going On?”
…In the UMC?
…At KPUMC?
Sunday, March 26
After Church in Fellowship Hall

Bring food to share and hearts to hear updates on the United Methodist Church split and our exciting plans for expansion during “Phase One” of our next era together.

As we go about all this we know that we cannot control what others may do. Some churches are clearly leaving for other denominations. But we know this:

God is opening a great opportunity for us to be a church that reaches out to our mission field, to our neighborhood here in North Oak Cliff. God is opening a future where we can truly use our open hearts and open minds to be a church of truly open doors.

Or, as the song says: “There is always room to spare.”

See you Sunday,
Eric Folkerth

Wind and Spirit

by Rev. Eric Folkerth

“The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

The one thing we can know for sure is…we get a lot of wind around here. We all endured shockingly high winds in Oak Cliff just last night. I hope and trust you all made it through OK…if not, if we can do anything to help, let us know…

One of the things we’ll talk about this Sunday is the remarkable truth about the Biblical words for “Wind” and “Spirit.”

I hope you recall that they are not “sorta” the same…but they are *exactly the same* words.

While English renders two words here, ancient Bible-readers saw the mystery of metaphorical language at work every time they read or spoke the word.

Spirit is like the Wind.
Wind is like the Spirit.

This is Jesus’ point in the above verse. It’s the point of his longer words to Nicodemus here in John, Chapter 3.

The “quiet center” we hope to find in our Lenten walk with God is indeed the very ineffable and mysterious Spirit of God.

We actually know far more about the coming and going of wind than we did in Jesus’ day. Just last night, was marveling at how Pete Delkus can hyper-focus, down to just a block or two, and tell us where the winds are blowing.

We know more about meteorology and how storm systems move.

All that said, the actualities of wind itself, and of storms, is still awe-inspiring, even in our day. No doubt, amidst your concern for persons and property last night, you had a moment of sheer wonder….meditating on a line of storms 280 miles long…producing winds over 70 mph.

Even with all we know about how winds work, watching them work still fills us with awe.

They remind us how little we control. How much we are at the mercy of forces well beyond us.

“The wind blows where it chooses,” Jesus says.

Which means, WE do not control it.

Learning to accept this, to live with the comings and goings of the Spirit/Wind…this is a primary goal of the journey to the Quiet Center of God. Sometimes in life everything seems to be going well and the Wind/Spirit blows strong. Other times, the world feels hot and parched and we can’t feel even a flicker of movement in the Spirit/Wind.

Learning to watch the physical and spiritual seasons, this is what it means to be “born from above,” as Jesus tells Nicodemus.

That’s what we’ll talk about this Sunday as we continue to “Come and Find the Quiet Center.”

Grace and Peace,

Eric

Lent 2023

by Rev. Eric Folkerth

Ash Wednesday was a busy day at KPUMC that modeled who we are called to be.

All throughout the day Andrew McGregor used our KPUMC van to shuttle migrants as part of the “Dallas Responds” program at our sister church, Oak Lawn UMC. We’re grateful to him for helping us live out the call to treat migrant friends with the same love and law we treat ourselves.

In early evening Pastor Kay and her amazing volunteers welcomed THIRTY FIVE…yes thirty five…kids to “Wednesday Night Live” in Roberts Forest!!

Wow! The weather was good and the children seemed to really love the evening with Pastor Kay.

Finally, Ken Kelley and I closed the evening in the sanctuary with our traditional Ash Wednesday worship.

Service.
Community.
Worship.

That’s the whole deal in one day, and what we are called to do as we serve our Oak Cliff mission field at Kessler Park.

As we begin Lent, I want to issue a special invitation for you all to be in worship during this holy season.

Our theme for Lent will be: “Come and Find the Quiet Center.”

This theme is taken from a popular hymn by the same name. The lyrics are powerful for our Lenten journey:

"Come and find the quiet center
in the crowded life we lead,
find the room for hope to enter,
find the frame where we are freed:
clear the chaos and the clutter,
clear our eyes, that we can see
all the things that really matter,
be at peace, and simply be.”

As our staff mediated on a theme for this Lent, we were struck with how many of us are already overwhelmed by the busy-ness of life. Yes, the pandemic years slowed things down. But now that the world is back “open,” daily life can feel akin to drinking from a fire hose. We’re back at a frenetic pace in our personal lives, but… we’re out of practice with how to deal with it.

So that’s where the “quiet center” comes in.

In the newsletter you’ll find information about the Prism Class’ Lenten plans, which include a special series led by Mike Smith.

Also coming soon, we’ll announce details of a special Sunday night series led by Tom Perkins and Rev. Kurt Maerschel. This series will invite us to consider various spiritual practices that can help us in this Lenten journey.

Along with Sunday worship, these are two ways you are invited to “Find the Quiet Center.”

So, after a blessed Ash Wednesday, we look forward to these Sundays in Lent, and hope you’ll join us for worship.

See you then,

Eric Folkerth