Rev. Eric Folkerth's Statement from the MegaMarch Press Conference

Prepared remarks for a press conference in support of comprehensive immigration reform, the Dream Act, and the MegaMarch.
Dallas City Hall
April 29, 2010

My name is Rev. Eric Folkerth and I am the senior pastor of Northaven United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas.

I am pleased to be standing before you this afternoon in support of comprehensive immigration reform, the Dream Act, and the MegaMarch.

I am pleased to tell you that members of Northaven United Methodist Church --myself included-- took part in the original MegaMarch of 2006. We were honored and humbled then to march alongside of 500,000 of our Latino/Latina brothers and sisters. And we look forward to being a part of the march on this coming Saturday.

All of us here today stand before you as leaders of our churches and synagogues. I stand before you because I believe Jesus commands those of us who follow him as Lord and Savior to "Love our neighbor as ourselves."

And in the Gospels of Jesus, Jesus is very clear that our "neighbor" is often a person of another race...an outsider...a foreigner...those who are considered "different."

I stand before you, because I believe standing for the rights of immigrants is part of following the commandments of Jesus.

Old Testament law (the Hebrew scriptures )also reminds us that God's holy people were once foreigners in a strange land. And, therefore, God commands faithful people, then and now, to treat the foreigner, the "alien," the outsider as if they were one of your own. That's in the Bible!

So, we are not as here as politicians. We are here to speak to what we believe to be God's commandments.

A moment ago, I mentioned the original MegaMarch of 2006. To those of you in the media, to those of you who are our elected leaders, I implore you to refer back to that march as you also look forward to Saturday's march.

Please hear this next sentence: The MegaMarch of 2006 was the largest single peaceful demonstration in the history of Dallas, Texas by a factor of ten. Think about that. It was the largest peaceful demonstration on ANY social issue in ANY historical time, in Dallas' history.

Saturday's march will likely take its place as no less than the second largest march in our city's history (although we of course won't know until it gets here...)

So, I implore our citizens, the media and politicians....as you evaluate angry voices on talk radio, as you hear angry calls on elected officials voicemails, please also listen to and remember the peaceful witness of the hundreds of thousands who marched in 2006, and all who will march Saturday.

We must listen to their voices too.

Saturday's march is not a response to the new Arizona law (it was planned before that news broke) but a continuation of a witness and dream --a reminder of the unfinished business of immigration reform-- that languished for years.

Concerning Arizona's new law however, those of us here today are not scholars of constitutional law, but we are scholars of God's law. And we respectfully suggest that this new law violates God's specific commandment to "love our neighbor as ourselves," and God's commandment to "treat the foreigner as if they were one of your own."

Jesus' call to love our neighbor, the desire to support immigrants and our Latino/Latina brothers and sisters everywhere, is why I will march on Saturday.

And I thank you for your time and attention today.

MegaMarch 2010

Church in Society Commission invites you to join Northaven members and members of our sister church, Christ's Foundry UMC, as we participate in the 2010 MegaMarch in support of comprehensive immigration reform and the DREAM Act.

MegaMarch 2010
Saturday, May 1st
March begins at 1 pm at the Cathedral of Guadalupe
2215 Ross Ave
Dallas, TX 75201




A picture from the 2006 MegaMarch, taken by Northaveners.








If you would like to travel downtown together, please see the following information:

11:15 am
Meet at for lunch at Urban Taco in Mockingbird Station. Click here for their website.
(NOTE: You don't have to join us for lunch to go with us downtown...but if you'd like to, please feel free...)

12:14
Catch the DART train downtown

12:30
Meet our Christ's Foundry UMC friends

1 pm
March begins


Five things are being asked by March Organizers:
1) Wear a white shirt or white t-shirt.
2) Bring an American Flag if you have one.
3) Bring bottled water for yourself.
4) Bring a trash bag (Last march we cleaned up after ourselves and we earned kudos from city officials. Fold the bag in your back pocket and take it out when you see trash on the route).

By all means NO disrespectful signs toward any group.

Positive signs supporting: Comprehensive Immigration Reform and our Immigrant Brothers and Sisters.

If you are planning to join us, please call the church office or let someone know so that we will be looking for you.

Youth Coffee House and Opportunities to Volunteer with Youth

This is a busy weekend for our youth program at Northaven. While writing this post, I'm also getting ready for our second lock-in of the year, which is the last event of the "Our Whole Selves" program with Cathedral of Hope.

This Sunday, April 25, at 6pm in the Sanctuary, the Youth are hosting a Coffee House for the Northaven community in an effort to raise part of the $3,500 they need for their summer mission trip to Dulac, Louisiana. Dessert and coffee will be provided while you enjoy catching up with your fellow Northaveners and enjoy a night of entertainment provided by the youth and confirmands.

Also this Sunday, 10 minutes following the end of Sunday morning worship we will be hosting an orientation meeting in the Youth Room for anyone who is interested in volunteering with Northaven Youth. We have a variety of volunteer needs, including providing food, supervising Sunday evenings and other events, and helping provide transportation, especially for our monthly mission projects. If you have any interest in helping the youth over the Summer or the coming year, please come to this brief meeting to provide information for background screenings as well as obtain more information on how you can be part of enriching the spiritual lives of our youth.

Hope to see you this Sunday,
Chris

Strategic Plan for the North Texas Conference

The North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church has been engaged in a process of strategic planning for more than a year now. A broad-based group of laypersons and clergy have listened to the feedback of many persons in the Annual Conference during the past calendar year.

They have held a series of district meetings to share their results. Their work and the work of the Bishop and Cabinet, have resulted in a new "strategic plan" for the North Texas Conference.

Delegates to the Annual Conference will be asked to consider a dramatic and creative restructuring to our annual conference agencies and to the "Cabinet."

The Strategic Planning Committee has created a website where folks can learn more about the plan. It's called "Holy Conferencing," and you can find it here.

You can download and read a copy of the entire strategic plan here. (pdf format)

The plan would establish Four Areas of Focus of The United Methodist Church as the Strategic Priorities of the North Texas Conference

1) Developing principled Christian leaders for the church and the world.
2) Creating new places for new people by creating new churches and renewing existing ones.
3) Engaging in ministry with the poor.
4) Combating the diseases of poverty by improving health globally.


To do this, the Vision Team and Cabinet Suggest Four Specific Strategic Changes:

1. Establish the four areas of focus of The United Methodist Church as the strategic priorities of the North Texas Conference.
2. Re-vision the role of the District Superintendents and reduce the number of districts of the North Texas Conference.
3. Streamline and realign the conference structure and staffing to address these priorities most effectively.
4. Realign our financial resources to reflect these priorities.

Northaven members are encouraged to become familiar with this proposed plan, and to offer feedback to our elected delegates to Annual Conference who will vote on this proposal.

Eligible voting delegates from Northaven are:
Shirley Cooper (lay delegate)
Eric Folkerth
Shannon Hamrick
Karan Marshall
Robin Lovin
Bill McElvaney
Ben Marshall

Give Your Input on the Mission Statement

Authorized by our Leadership Council, and facilitated by Church in Society Commission, the Northaven Community is invited to engaged in a process of discernment which could lead to an expansion of our church's mission statement.

Specifically, the idea is to ask: "Does our statement need to say more about our mission to the world, specifically to the poor and the oppressed? And, if so, what should it say?"

This process does not seek to replace the current statement, approved in the 1990s, but to expand on the question "What are we called to *do* in the world?"
Therefore, for four weeks the congregation is invited to provide input and feedback on what that mission statement should include.

To "prime the pump" Church and Society has drafted four sample statements to get you to thinking and to praying about what it should be. They are:

* "Northaven seeks to extend God's love to the world through ministries of compassion, peace, justice and reconciliation."


* "Northaven understand our mission to embody God's love and justice in the world with special preference for those who are most vulnerable and marginalized."


* "Jesus described his mission in Luke 4 as being anointed, "to preach good news to the poor, te proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord". Jesus' mission is Northaven's mission in the world."


* As one body of Christ, we pray that God's Holly Spirit will empower us for the awesome and challenging task off spreading God's love and justice throughout our community and world.

Leave comments below about these statements, or about another statement of your own choosing. Or, on Sundays, leave a comment on at large display in the Atrium.

What Should We Do This Summer?

Last summer, Northaven engaged in a powerful "Chautauqua" series that was heralded by many.

Your hardworking Worship Commission will soon be contemplating this summer, and perhaps yet another "Chautauqua" series, but perhaps around a different set of issues.

Are there some theological, social justice, or spiritual issues that might lend themselves to a powerful summer study?

What do YOU think would make a good summer series?

We can't promise to use all your ideas, but we'd love to hear them.

Leave your thoughts in the form of a "Comment" below.
(Note: you don't have to have a username and password. You may leave a comment using the "anonymous" method. If you like, you may sign your name at the end of your comment...)