The Sabbath of Jan. 14 brought smiles and tears to the overflow crowd at the Houston, Texas, North congregation's Broze Hall. It was the last Sabbath of Jim and Sharron Franks' pastorate in the Houston area. The Franks were moving on to the home office in Cincinnati to take on the task of operation manager for Ministerial Services.

The emotional services included two pieces of special music, "Shout to the Lord," performed by the teen choir and directed by Gina Whitley, and "God Be With You 'til We Meet Again," performed by the adult choir and directed by Ivor Mitchell and accompanied by Barbara Haynes on the piano.

Mr. Franks gave the sermon titled "Farewell Addresses" and mentioned his family had received "so many blessings here in Houston." Among the statistics Mr. Franks spoke of were his giving of over 1,000 sermons, conducting about 1,000 Bible studies, performing 52 weddings, 66 funerals and logging over a million miles driving since arriving in Houston in July 1987.

The Houston North congregation has grown to over 400 people compared to 275 in 1995, Mr. Franks said. Mr. Franks spoke of the toughness in the Houston congregations during that "tumultuous" period in the Church. Some of the passages Mr. Franks read were Joshua 23:1-6, Acts 20:17-38, Ezekiel 22:30, Romans 8:22-23 and Nehemiah 13. Mr. Franks said, "There is no second-class citizen in the Church of God."

Mr. Franks also reminisced over humorous, sad and frightening moments shared in his family's tenure in Houston. Mr. Franks ended his remarks by reading from a letter by Herbert Armstrong dated Dec. 12, 1958. He encouraged the congregation to continue to stand firm on our belief in this way of life, giving our full support to the new pastor, Jim Servidio, and to keep striving for God's Kingdom.

Following the sermon Mr. Franks made it a point to say good-bye to each member of the 400-plus-member congregation. Many stayed for the Franks' "Going Away" reception later that evening. We then sent the Franks to Ohio with bellies full of good ol' Texan BBQ and with a memorable rendition of the Soggy Bottom Boys' "Man O' Sorrows" performed by Koehler Powell, Robert Zamora and James Followell Sr.

As the group expressed during the show after dinner, we hope this is not a permanent good-bye but merely a temporary relocation until they "Come Back to Texas."