1 Adventist Heritage Script By Richard Wright

From its earliest days, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has made use of state- of-the-art technology to spread the “Three Angels’ Messages to the world. Millerites made use of the printing press in the 1830s and ‘40s. Shortly after the , Ellen White had a vision where she was told that Adventists should begin their own publications, and so her husband James began publishing a monthly periodical in 1849, called the Present Truth. Within a few years, the Review and Herald Publishing Association was established. In 1930, a evangelist named H.M.S. Richards began broadcasting on a local radio station. Within a few years, The would first become a state-wide, and then a national radio program. It would be one of the most popular religious broadcasts of all time, and the VOP demonstrated that mass media could be an effective means to spread the Gospel message. Beginning in 1950, Adventists made use of the new medium of television. William Fagal, a New York pastor, began a local program on WABC, called Faith for Today, which was unique in that it used drama to give its message. The program was done live, and the actors were members of Fagal’s congregation. Faith for Today would become the longest-running religious television program. While in his second year at Emmanuel Missionary College – now – in , a young man, named George Vandeman, began to hold evangelistic meetings. This would become the passion of his life. George and his new wife Nellie would eventually have three sons and one daughter. Upon completion of a Masters Degree at the in 1946, George Vandeman began working as a field instructor in at EMC. Within four years, the General Conference asked Vandeman to become an associate secretary in the Ministerial Association. At the age of 33, he was one of the youngest leaders to ever serve at the GC headquarters. The post-World War II years were a time of extensive evangelistic outreach and rapid growth for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Powerful evangelists such as George Vandeman, John Ford, Fordyce Detamore, and Roy Allen Anderson toured North America with large tents, using the latest in media technology, and baptizing thousands of people. Vandeman conducted meetings in the U.S. and Great Britain. Elder Vandeman had toyed with the idea of utilizing local television to advertise his meetings. However, he finally decided to produce a full-fledged series for TV. In 1956, he launched a 13-week series, called It Is Written, on a local 2 Washington, DC station. Each black-and-white telecast featured a complete study. By 1958, the Vandeman’s were living in California, and George began a weekly It Is Written telecast in Fresno. By 1962, the program was broadcast on local stations throughout the state. Keeping-up with technology, It Is Written became one of the first religious programs to broadcast in color. Now with a growing television ministry, Elder Vandeman took over the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena for a month-long series in the early 1960s. The results of these meetings created a surge in the membership of the Southern California Conference. By this time, the general format of It Is Written had been established. The program consisted of Elder Vandeman speaking in a low-key conversational manner from a living room setting. His message was illustrated with appropriate film clips of Bible lands and other relevant places. Vandeman would always end his program by quoting Matthew 4:4 – “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” By the mid-1960s, the program was being seen internationally. It was during this decade that George and Nellie Vandeman formed a life-long friendship with radio star and his wife, Angel. Harvey was especially impressed with Vandeman’s book, Planet in Rebellion, and he would often refer to it and recommend it on his radio broadcast. In 1971, It Is Written, along with the other major Adventist broadcasts – Breath of Life, Faith for Today, and Voice of Prophecy – re-located at the new Adventist Media Center in Thousand Oaks, California. The denomination believed that, by bringing all the media ministries together in one location near the technology of Hollywood, they could increase the professional quality of the programs while at the same time saving money. In 1975, Elder Vandeman began conducting Revelation Seminars throughout the nation. By the time he finished, tens of thousands of people had attended one of the 300 seminars. By the end of the 1970s, George Vandeman had become a recognized religious leader. In 1979, It Is Written received its first of 30 “Angel” Awards from the Excellence in Media organization. Vandeman was also invited to presidential briefings by both Presidents Reagan and Bush Sr. By the 1980s, It Is Written had 600,000 weekly viewers. During this decade, Vandeman received a great deal of praise from many denominations with his book and series of broadcasts, entitled “What I Like About . . .” He discussed several different Christian denominations, dwelling upon what each had in common with Adventists, rather than pointing out their differences. And yet, he was able to present 3 SDA beliefs in the process. In 1992, Elder George Vandeman retired from the It Is Written ministry, although he would continue to make appearances and even preach at various churches. Pastor Vandeman died on November 12, 2000. Upon learning of his friend’s death, Paul Harvey eulogized George Vandeman on his radio broadcast and said, “George Vandeman has completed his earthly ministry in his eighty-fourth year. When the roll is called up yonder, and you and I hear that gently persuasive voice again . . . we’ll know that we made it to the right place.” After Elder Vandeman’s retirement, Elder became the producer and speaker for It Is Written. Finley, a well-known evangelist, had been conducting institutes to train pastors in evangelism. Pastor Finley traveled the world, producing programs on location to enhance the impact of the program. This approach was especially effective in both his series on the “Seven Churches of Revelation,” which was filmed in Turkey, and on the Waldensees, which was filmed in Europe. It was also during this time that the ministry established a website and began to make available DVDs of programs. Mark Finley also added satellite evangelism to It Is Written when he presented NET ’95, which reached all of North America. It was followed by NET ’96, which covered much of the world and was broadcast in 13 languages. More than 30,000 people from 45 nations were baptized. For ACTS 2000, Finley conducted satellite programs in 10 different countries between 1999 and 2001. He ended-up with a combined audience of 3 million viewers. In 2005, Elder Finley was asked by the General Conference to be its Vice- president for Evangelism. The new producer and speaker was Shawn Boonstra. Pastor Boonstra was unique in that he had first learned about the Seventh-day Adventist Church through It Is Written. He was already serving as the speaker for It Is Written in Canada. Pastor Boonstra arrived just in time to celebrate It Is Written’s 50th anniversary in 2006. Keeping with the program’s tradition of utilizing the latest technology, the program soon began “podcasting.” Boonstra has also tackled controversial topics, such as homosexuality. Today, It Is Written is broadcast in 7000 U.S. cities, and in 150 different nations around the world. An average of 1.5 million people in North America views the program each week, placing it among the top ten religious TV programs. Thirty- six new programs are produced each year in 11 different languages. There is an average of 85,000 phone responses to the program each year. In addition to “Angel” Awards, the program has received “Telly” Awards and “Aurora” Awards. The It Is Written team also conducts Revelation Seminars around the world.