John Bradshaw, speaker-director. Photo from ItIsWritten.com It is Written GREG HUDSON Greg Hudson, D.Min. (Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan), is the senior pastor of the Georgia-Cumberland Academy church in Calhoun, Georgia. He has worked as a registered nurse, and served as a pastor and academy chaplain in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Georgia. It Is Written, a Seventh-day Adventist television ministry founded by George Vandeman, began a weekly broadcast in selected American cities in 1956 and has since extended its reach throughout the world. The first religious television program to broadcast in color, It Is Written has innovated methods of using mass media technologies to augment local evangelism throughout its history. The Emergence of Adventist Television Ministry (1939-1955) The Adventist church became involved in television ministry in 1949, a decade after the televising of the New York World’s Fair in 1939 demonstrated the potential of this new medium.1 After the end of World War II in 1945, as more and more Americans acquired television sets, Adventists saw both its dangers as an immoral influence and its great potential in reaching large numbers of people with the message of Jesus.2 The success demonstrated by the Voice of Prophecy radio broadcast, helped prepare Adventists to recognize the evangelistic potential of modern media. R. H. Libby, J. L. Tucker, and W. A. Fagal pioneered the Adventist use of television as a means of evangelism. On the west coast Tucker started airing The Quiet Hour in 1949.3 In November of that same year, R. H. Libby started airing A Faith to Live By in Baltimore, generating much interest and hundreds of Bible studies, despite working with no budget, no music director, and no musicians.4 Soon another program, Heralds of Hope, with evangelist Robert L. Boothby began broadcasting in the Washington, D.C. area.5 As these programs were being launched, leaders of the General Conference Ministerial Association, including George Vandeman, were holding workshops in California that included investigation of the possibilities of using television for evangelism.6 In February 1950, toward the end of a six-month evangelism series in Atlanta, Georgia, evangelist M. K. Eckenroth, experimented with using telecasts to stimulate interest in the public meetings and to share topics such as Daniel 2.7 The format of this program, Faith For The Future, was a round-table discussion of Bible prophecy.8 Faith For Today with W. A. Fagal, which began broadcasting on May 21, 1950, would outlast all of these to become the longest-running Adventist TV program.9 It quickly showed great promise for evangelism, eliciting requests for literature and contact information for those showed interest by responding to the broadcast.10 At Fall Council in 1950, the potential of television evangelism was recognized. In order to ensure programs of top quality that would best represent the Adventist church, the General Conference Committee voted that in 1951 and 1952 all TV programs should be sponsored and developed from the General Conference. Two major programs, one on the east coast in New York City, and the other on the west coast in Los Angeles, would be further developed and funded. Both of these shows were to bear the title of “Faith For Today – A presentation of the Seventh-day Adventist Church of North America.”11 With this decision, Faith For Today with W.A. Fagal soon began to expand to other cities, 12 while The Quiet Hour with J. L. Tucker returned to a strictly radio format.13 In the early 1950s, George Vandeman, along with other evangelists such as H. M. S. Richards and Roy Anderson, made a series of evangelistic sermons produced on 16mm film. While these were not designed with television in mind, the films were broadcast in a few areas, including Midland, Texas. Then, in 1955, Vandeman conducted an evangelistic series in Midland because of the interest the broadcasts had helped raise there. The success of this reaping series helped Vandeman see the potential in uniting media ministry with public evangelism.14 Founding (1955-1958) It was in this context that It Is Written (IIW) came into existence. After his return from England in 1955, the General Conference assigned Vandeman the project of producing a series of films that could be used for television broadcasts. Marjorie Lewis Lloyd assisted him as research editor. The series covered the major tenets of Adventism in a series of 39 full-color films.15 The plan was to use the films as preparation for evangelistic efforts by arranging for their broadcast on a local television station in the months leading up to the series of public meetings.16 The name “It Is Written” was suggested by a young movie star named Penny Edwards. She had starred in several Hollywood movies in the 1940s and 1950s, but retired from film acting when she joined the Seventh-day Adventist church.17 While Faith For Today featured dramatic vignettes and other religious programs simply pictured someone preaching a sermon, Vandeman intended It Is Written to feel like a personal Bible study with just one or two individuals in their own living room. The set resembled a home library, with books behind him. Sometimes he used physical models or pictures, as well as video clips, filmed on location, about events or places.18 After just the first 13 episodes were completed, It Is Written was first aired in Fresno and Bakersfield, California, beginning on March 25, 1956. Airtime was secured in Bakersfield on Sunday morning and Thursday evening, and in Fresno on Sunday afternoon.19 The films were also used during public evangelistic meetings, sometimes shown before the meeting.20 The broadcasts were successful in finding people interested in learning more about the Bible. Evangelist Fordyce Detamore soon preached a series in Bakersfield that resulted in over 200 decisions for baptism, with many indicating they had been viewers of the television series. This outcome revealed that other evangelists besides the host could also successfully follow up the television series.21 On Sunday, September 22, 1957, IIW began to broadcast in Washington, D.C. on WTTG-TV, Channel 5, at 9 p.m. every Sunday evening. The initial topic was “Life on Other Worlds.” From the beginning IIW was more than just a broadcast program. It was an evangelistic ministry working with churches, pastors, and lay members for training in following up the interests produced from the television show.22 Before the first airing in Washington, more than 2,000 members from at least 30 area churches were organized to go from home to home with information on the subjects to be aired. All of this was done in preparation for a reaping series planned for the spring of 1958.23 W. O. Reynolds joined the IIW team to assist with organizing the evangelistic meeting and training the lay members.24 During seven months of broadcasts, more than 12,000 people enrolled in the “Take His Word” Bible course, with over 700 church members visiting and following up these interests.25 This emphasis on the television ministry working with churches and lay members became a foundational method for the outreach of It Is Written.26 George Vandeman began the follow-up meetings at the D.C. Armory in Washington on Sunday, April 13, 1958. The first topic was “Footsteps in the Atom.” At the time, this series, which continued for 22 consecutive nights, was considered the largest evangelistic campaign in the history of the city.27 Over 3,000 people attended on opening night. 28 Eventually, at least 234 people were baptized as a result of this initial IIW broadcast and evangelism series combination.29 Across the Nation and the World (1958-1975) The initial success in Washington was followed by efforts in other cities following the same plan. Six months of broadcasting in Richmond, Virginia, led to Bible study enrollments in more than 500 families characterized as “deeply interested,” with Vandeman’s ten-day series of decision meetings in September 1958 resulting in more than 100 baptisms.30 Also in the fall of 1958, broadcasting began in Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Roanoke, Norfolk, and Harrisonburg, Virginia; Nashville, Tennessee; Orlando, Florida; and Wichita, Kansas, while a second year began in Washington, D.C. In several of these cities television networks granted the program free airtime as a public service broadcast.31 In 1959, IIW aired in several cities in the territory of the Central Union, including Denver, where Vandeman’s meeting led to 300 people applying for church membership.32 By 1960, the broadcast was seen in many of the cities of the North Pacific Union, with Vandeman holding training sessions for pastors and lay members in each conference.33 The program crossed borders in 1959 to be aired in Canada for the first time, starting in Sydney, Nova Scotia. In time, about 75 percent of city’s population had seen the show, with 40% watching regularly. Even though there was no church in that region, when Vandeman arrived to hold a two-week series, there were over 500 in attendance, and two churches were started at the conclusion of the meetings.34 In 1964 broadcasting began on 16 stations in Australia. In 1967, Vandeman toured this nation, holding meetings in six different cities.35 By 1970, IIW was on 112 stations in three different countries.36 Additions to the Evangelism Toolbox Shortly after the initial Washington, D. C. series, George Vandeman wrote a book entitled Touch and Live (1958), adding another element to the ministry of It Is Written.37 Since then, publishing books has continued to be a vital part of the ministry.