It Is Written is an internationally broadcast Seventh-day Adventist Christian television program founded in 1956 by George Vandeman. Its title comes from the Gospel of Matthew: "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. The programs are produced by the Adventist Media Center in California.
History
The program aired in March 1956 with founder Pastor George Vandeman as speaker. Over the next half-century, It Is Written grew exponentially. Vandeman's live “Revelation Seminars” attracted tens of thousands of eager visitors, and the telecast entered millions of homes in numerous countries.
In 1991, Vandeman retired, and Pastor Mark Finley accepted the position as the ministry's new speaker/director; in 1995 he added a satellite evangelistic series called NET ’95.
NET ’96 followed one year later, and whereas NET ’95 had targeted North America, NET ’96 reached the world with messages in 13 languages. It is estimated that 2,200 churches from 45 countries participated in at least one of the NETs, and more than 30,000 people were baptized at the conclusion of the meetings.
The next major It Is Written satellite effort took place from 1999 through 2001 with ACTS 2000, when the ministry covered the entire globe with multiple satellite meetings. Pastor Finley conducted a total of 10 series to a combined audience of 3 million people.
By this time, It Is Written maintained its rank as one of the top 10 religious programs in North America and received more than 30 awards for excellence in programming.
Pastor Shawn Boonstra became the third speaker/director January 2005. Finley passed the mantle to Boonstra with his blessing.
Pastor Boonstra came to the It Is Written headquarters from It Is Written Canada, where he had served as speaker/director for four years. Boonstra joined the Adventist Church after attending an It Is Written evangelistic series.
Pastor Boonstra's Revelation Speaks Peace evangelistic series in cities like Phoenix, Portland, Los Angeles, India, and Rome energized attendees and church members alike with the hope in Christ that is revealed through the final book of the Bible.
In January 2011, Pastor John Bradshaw was named new speaker/director for It Is Written.
In May 2011, Bradshaw conducted a short series live from Las Vegas called Babylon Rising. This effort was broadcast worldwide via satellite and the Internet. Following the success of the Babylon Rising series, Bradshaw presented a month-long series called Revelation Today live from the Cashman Center in Las Vegas in January 2012. He followed this series with meetings in Paris, Dayton, Southern Mexico, Costa Rica, Prague, New York, Charlotte and more.
Ministry facts
It Is Written can be viewed each week in approximately 7,000 cities in the United States and 700 cities in Canada. The telecast's reach extends to at least 140 countries. An average of 1.5 million people view the North American telecast each week and the program consistently ranks as one of the top 10 religious programs in the United States according to the Nielsen ratings. In 2011, the mobile site won both a Silver W3 Award and a Silver Davey Award in the category of Best Mobile Website. The mobile site was designed and developed by Trinet Internet Solutions.