Adventist Media, Mission and Technology: A Timeline

Timeline by Amanda Blake

• 1849: Early Adventists publish “The Present Truth” as a way to clarify the Great Disappointment, share emerging doctrines, “and, above all, unpack the Sabbath truth.” Penniless James White, who leads the effort, is encouraged by a vision his wife, Ellen White, received a year prior,[1] which assured her that the paper would become “like streams of light that went clear round the world.” (“Life Sketches of Ellen G. White,” p. 125). Opposing a popular Protestant sentiment that religious illustrations are a form of idolatry, Adventists continue the Millerite tradition of explaining biblical teachings through printed charts and diagrams.[2]
   
• 1852: To avoid depending on publishers that work on Sabbath, the Adventist movement purchases a Washington hand press for $652.93.[3] The machine takes three days to produce one copy of “The Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald.” Uriah Smith uses a penknife to trim magazine edges. He writes: “We blistered our hands in the operation, and often the tracts in form were not half so true and square as the doctrines they taught.”[4] Shortly after, the Review and Herald Printing Office is born.[5]

• 1874: James White establishes the Pacific Press in Oakland, California. With a manual printing press, the publishing house sends out the first issue of “Signs of the Times.”[6]

• Early 1900s: The church’s thriving literature evangelism ministry expands to include student workers, a practice that remains popular today.[7]

• 1929: With the help of a New York engineer and students from a nearby Adventist academy, Adventist Pastor Harold Williams begins radio broadcasting Christian content as 8BSL (“The Bible Study League”) from the living room of his house in Newfoundland. One of the students who assists in building the transmitter writes, “I must have wound about five miles of copper wire into coils of various kinds.”[8] At the same time, Adventist preacher H.M.S. Richards Sr. starts what becomes the “The Voice of Prophecy” by broadcasting “The Tabernacle of the Air” on California radio stations—despite some church leaders painting radio as “the devil’s tool.” Richards’ headquarters? A renovated chicken coop in his garage.[9]

• 1942: Weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, “The Voice of Prophecy” becomes the Adventist church’s national radio program, impacting households from coast to coast.[10] Two years later, the radio program La Voz de la Esperanza reaches Spanish-speaking countries.[11]

• 1949: Adventists utilize television as an evangelism tool for the first time when “The Quiet Hour” featuring J.L. Tucker appears on KGO-TV.[12] This same year, Newfoundland becomes a province of Canada, whose broadcasting commission does not permit religious entities to have radio stations. However, it allows VOAR (formerly 8BSL) to remain on air,[13] and “for nearly 40 years, Voice of Adventist Radio was the exception as the only Christian radio station in Canada.”[14]

• 1950: The television program “Faith For Today” with W. A. Fagal begins in May,[15] and by December, it grows to become North America’s first national religious telecast.[16]
   
• Mid-1950s: Famous radio operator and Adventist Tom Christian begins serving as “the voice of Pitcairn.” (pictured top)

• 1956: Created by George Vandeman to feel like a “personal Bible study,” “It Is Written” airs on television in color—the first religious program to do so. The program’s name is suggested by former movie star Penny Edwards, who retired from Hollywood when she became an Adventist.[17]

• 1960s: More than 1,300 stations around the world carry “The Voice of Prophecy” in 30 languages.[18]

• 1966: On March 7, Amazing Facts’ radio show arrives on the air, and a car salesman who hears the broadcast contacts Amazing Facts, feeling “convicted by truth.” He is soon baptized.[19]

• 1971: The church founds Adventist World Radio to broadcast its message to unreached areas.[20]

• 1980s: Computer integration in Adventist libraries—an effort that began in the 1960s—leads to the development of Adventist online public access catalogs (OPACs).[21]

• 1981: It Is Written hosts a teleseminar transmitted to 22 locations around the country and attended by more than 7,000 people.[22]

• Mid-1990s: One of the first denominations to manufacture an Internet presence, the Adventist church debuts adventist.org on the World Wide Web.[23]

• 1995: It Is Written hosts the largest evangelistic meeting in the history of Adventism with NET ’95,[24] a multi-week event transmitted by satellite to 676 locations across the continent and viewed by 65,000 people, including 23,000 visitors. This revolutionary program emphasizes the participation of the local congregation and results in approximately 5,000 baptisms.[25]

• 1998: Net ’98 reaches millions—with 4,600 downlink sites in over 100 countries—via both satellite and internet. At this time, it is the “largest evangelistic effort ever undertaken by a Christian church as well as the most expensive satellite event in Christian history,” costing the NAD $1,816,277. Uplinked from Andrews University, translators gather in the Pioneer Memorial Church basement to provide live translations of the meetings into “Mandarin Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, and 32 other languages ranging from Afrikaans to Zulu.” In Papua New Guinea, more than 110,000 people crowd five outdoor stadiums to view the meetings. Eight phone systems serve as technical hotlines. Concerned that people may skip church attendance to watch the meetings at home, leaders delay the internet broadcast. “Reports came in from several places, especially in Europe, of people who found the event on the internet and then looked up a local site to attend. Several people joined the church as a result of this distribution method.”[26]

• 2003: The church launches an official television network, Hope Channel International, which offers a 24-hour broadcast.[27]

• 2006: Aiming to connect “web surfers” with individual Adventist churches, Three Angels Global Networking, or TAGnet, releases netadventist.org (which the GC took over in 2008)[28] to help churches create their own websites featuring current news, Bible study resources, and sermon podcasts. At this same time, the NAD’s AdventistChurchConnect.org freely offers congregations eight pre-designed website templates.[29]

• 2009: The Adventist church joins Twitter (@adventistchurch).[30]

• 2017: The Nuevo Tiempo Communication Network releases “Esperanza,” an AI-powered chatbot designed to assist with Bible studies and spiritual questions.[31]

• 2020s: Adventists all over the world go to church online. According to the 2022–2023 Global Church Member Survey: “56% of respondents reported using social media to attend church about once a week or more often.”[32]

• 2023: “The Hopeful,” a 1.5-hour Hope Studios film about the start of the Adventist movement, is the headline screening at the International Christian Film Festival. A year later, it premieres in several U.S. theaters.[33]

• 2024: The Korean Union Conferences launches Adventist Church GPT.[34]

• 2025: The South American Division releases 7chatai,[35] and the General Conference begins actively developing Adventist Knowledge AI—a secure, text-based question-answering service leaders hope to one day offer Adventist leaders, church members, and seekers, according to Richard Stephenson, chief information officer for the GC.

Disclaimer: This timeline highlights key milestones and memorable moments in the church’s use of technology. It is not a complete history, and many meaningful contributions and individuals are necessarily omitted.