A plan of global evangelism that centers on 30-minute videotapes (films until 1969) produced in color for television release. It combines mass communication with public evangelism and personal contacts made by laypeople.
The plan was developed in 1955 when George Vandeman, an associate secretary of the Ministerial Association (later a general field secretary of the General Conference), was asked to explore the possibilities of a new approach to city evangelism.
With an initial appropriation from the 1955 Autumn Council, the first films were made in California. Production moved to the East Coast in the fall of 1956. Two laymen, Dr. J. W. Field and Don Loveridge, contributed heavily to the new project. The General Conference was headquarters for production until the end of 1971 when It Is Written moved to Thousand Oaks, California, where the Seventh-day Adventist Media Center is now located.
During the early years It Is Written (IIW) operated with an extremely small staff. Marjorie Lewis Lloyd assisted with both scripts and production through 1971. At that time David L. Jones assumed production responsibilities. In 1993 the staff included 15 persons serving in production, field services, public relations, and prayer ministries.
Until 1992 the telecast featured George Vandeman as speaker, with a unique semidocumentary format. The series was supplemented by a blend of doctrinal, health, and felt-needs telecast messages designed to appeal to a broad secular audience. With an inventory of more than 550 Scripture-based programs, It Is Written produces each year approximately 36 additional telecasts to assure that material remains as up-to-date as possible.
Viewers are invited to telephone or write for free books or other materials. Interested individuals are guided through a Bible course by local conference laypeople or pastors. With careful follow-up, the program is a continuing source of baptisms.
Mark Finley became the speaker/director of IIW in September 1992. Ministerial secretary for the Trans-European Division from 1985–1990, Finley founded the North American Division Evangelism Institute in 1979. Vandeman continued with the ministry as speaker emeritus and consultant.
It Is Written has the distinction of producing the first religious telecast regularly broadcast in color. It has been aired at various times throughout Australia and Europe. A French It Is Written telecast, with George Hermans as speaker, covered eastern Canada from 1974–1990. In 1992 the It Is Written Foundation in Canada merged with the Destiny telecast and began producing programs for Canada exclusively, using Mark Finley as speaker and Henry Feyerabend as associate speaker.
After the collapse of Communism in the former Soviet Union, IIW blanketed the Commonwealth of Independent States with programs dubbed into Russian. During that same time a group of laypersons in Brazil funded the production of the Vandeman programs dubbed into Portuguese and using Brazilian musicians taped on the IIW set. In 1992, IIW was rated as the top religious program in Brazil. Nielsen ratings in the United States reflect favorable response to the programs throughout the country. The programs have garnered 17 Angel awards from Excellence in Media since 1978.