Adventist Media Ministries Tap Into Timely Innovations to Declare the Timeless Message of Christ

Story by John Simon

God has appointed His followers to proliferate the everlasting gospel and the three angels’ messages throughout the world. One way to diminish this daunting task is to utilize various technological advancements to achieve a more extensive reach. Voice of Prophecy and It Is Written have done this effectively for many decades.

These living templates of resourcefulness have forged a lasting legacy of supporting the church’s mission to invite everyone from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people to experience salvation in Jesus. Representatives from both ministries have established their presence in the exhibit hall at the 62nd General Conference Session in St. Louis, Missouri, highlighting their current labors in the Lord’s vineyard.

Twenty-first Century Evangelism

Mark Guild, director of marketing and development for It Is Written, emphasized one of their primary conduits for disseminating Christ-centered content. “On the social media side, we're really starting to focus more and more on YouTube,” he shared. “Traditionally, channels for us, going back to George Vandeman’s time, would have been television, local affiliates … that’s all gone away now … but YouTube really is a big platform for us as we continue to move forward.”

With artificial intelligence (AI) becoming almost as ubiquitous as the air we breathe, Guild briefly discussed how It Is Written is assessing its usefulness in enhancing their efforts. What that will look like is yet to be determined, though multi-language translation carries some promise.

Eddie Schwisow, public relations and donor relations director for Voice Prophecy, addressed how they implement technology in their overall mode of operation. “We work closely with churches,” he said. “Our focus is to help local churches grow, and so we have been working at developing social media campaigns, both for local church events as well as Bible studies.”

This partnership model is consistent with the philosophy of Voice of Prophecy. “Technology is good, but if we can’t get into relationship, we can’t get into one-on-one, we’re going to miss out on the true opportunity,” Schwisow expressed. “We continue to look at different platforms and different ways to get in front of the people with the eventual goal of building relationships in the local church.”

Discovery Mountain and Authentic, the flagship children’s and adult (respectively) programs for Voice of Prophecy, are experiencing significant increases in viewership and listenership on a monthly basis.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Guild mentioned It Is Written is approaching its 70th anniversary (Vandeman founded it in 1956). Starting out as a television ministry, it has clearly become more multifaceted, yet beyond media, It Is Written has expanded its activity to live evangelism.

“We do one major event every year in North America,” Guild said. “Alaska was last year; Idaho before that; this year is Baltimore, Maryland, and Pastor John [Bradshaw, It Is Written president] is preaching with Elder [G. Alexander] Bryant [North American Division president].” Ethiopia was the most recent international campaign.

According to Schwisow, Voice of Prophecy’s centennial is on the horizon. “Voice of Prophecy has been around since 1929, and it began with emerging technology: radio,” he stated. “Praise the Lord, H.M.S. Richards and others that were supporting him were able to harness that technology to get out get in front of people.”

Voice of Prophecy continually harnesses AI for applications such as image development. These images are available to local churches to boost their outreach.

The official websites of It Is Written and Voice of Prophecy offer a wealth of content that provides spiritual nourishment and resources to share with family, friends, and coworkers who are looking wistfully to heaven. Those attending GC Session are welcome to visit their respective exhibit booths.