REGIONAL BOARD MEETINGS
Our Central Region board met in Des Moines, IA, May 4-6. Monday was devoted to reviewing our financial reports and making financial decisions; Tuesday was given to strategic planning and reviewing church reports from around the region; and Wednesday was focused on interviewing credential applicants. We also enjoy times of worship, prayer, and building relationships around the table. We are grateful for a great leadership team for Central Region!
REGIONAL BOARD HONORS
Darrick Young, Founder and Lead Pastor at Journey Church in Urbandale, IA, and Geographic Appointee to the National Board, was honored for 20 plus years of service on our regional board. Darrick began by serving as secretary for the regional board and became our national board representative in 2010 and has most recently been the Geographic Member of the National Board for the last 8 years. Darrick has termed out on the national board, so this was his final onsite meeting for this season with the regional board. Our staff and board surprised Darrick with an evening at the Iowa Cubs since he is a huge Cubs fan. Thank you, Pastor Darrick, for your service to our national board, regional board, and our regional team! The regional board will be announcing an appointment soon.
Chad Cummings, Lead Pastor at Gospel Open Bible Church in Jefferson, IA, West Iowa District Director, and Secretary for Open Bible Central, has completed his Master of Arts in Theological and Biblical Studies at Knox Theological Seminary in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Chad received his degree at ceremonies in Florida May 8th. Congratulations, Chad!
McKendre Veenstra, Open Bible missionary to Japan and son of Pastors Kurt and Kim Veenstra, departed for Japan on Thursday, May 7, 2026, to serve with our Japan Open Bible Churches. Pray for McKendre as he begins this new adventure!
MISSIONARY LODGING
We are looking for churches, families, or individuals who have available housing to host Open Bible missionaries while they are itinerating in the region or while they are visiting in our area. This would help a missionary or missionary family save on expenses while they are raising financial support from our churches. Please contact Bruce Pfadenhauer at bruce@openbiblecentral.org or 515-282-6491 if you know of available housing.
MINISTRY OPPORTUNITIES
We would ask for your partnership as churches look to fill key ministry positions. First, you can partner with us in prayer. Matthew 9:38 says, Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field. Secondly, if you know someone who might be interested, please pass the news on to them. It may be someone from another organization similar to Open Bible, perhaps even someone in your community who is called to vocational ministry. Thirdly, if your church is looking for a key ministry leader, we are happy to post the opportunity on our website. You can check out our current openings at https://openbiblecentral.org/ministry-opportunities/. We are currently looking for applicants for Freeport, IL and Cedar Rapids, IA.
COMFORT
David Lloyd Holdeman, father of retired Open Bible Minister, Eric (Helene) Holdeman, passed away Monday, April 13, 2026. Services were in Naperville, IL. Here is the obituary for David Lloyd Holdeman.
FREE RESOURCE FOR OPEN BIBLE CENTRAL LEADERS
Central Region is excited to offer a FREE subscription with RightNow Media – the world’s largest streaming library of Bible studies and discipleship content. They have over 400 Christian publishers, tens of thousands of Bible studies, conferences, training sessions, kid’s cartoons, and much more. As a Pastor or Key Leader within a Central Region church — you, your family, and your key ministry leaders will have FREE access to RightNow Media.
Get access to this free resource at this link https://app.rightnowmedia.org/join/obccr.
Please know that this access cannot be shared or given away to your entire church. This access is meant for you, your immediate family, and key ministry leaders in your church. You can however use your account to show RightNow Media videos to your church, whether it be during a small-group study or Sunday-morning message. As a valued part of our region’s family, your church qualifies for an exclusive discount on the cost of a church-wide subscription, so that you can use RightNow Media to equip families, resource small groups, and develop leaders within your local church.
RightNow Media may reach out to introduce themselves and help with any questions you might have, but you can also reach out to Central Region’s RightNow Media representative, Graham Smith, if you need assistance with anything.
You can reach Graham with the information below (please include your name and your church’s name when emailing):
Graham Smith – Director for National Accounts, RightNow Media
graham@rightnowmedia.org
(972) 560 – 4000
Should you be interested in expanding this access to your church-body, please contact Graham for more information on purchasing a church-wide subscription at a discounted rate! IF you are a church that ALREADY has RightNow Media, please feel free to contact Graham and ask about the possibility of receiving a reduced subscription rate through this deal with Central Region.
