From the desk of
JOHN BRADSHAW
®
May 2024
Dear Partner in ministry, It wasn’t just what was written that caught my attention, but how it was announced. In 2013, Pope Francis, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, offered an indulgence—a reduction in the time a person would spend in purgatory—to people who followed him on social media. The pontiff offered a shorter term in purgatory to anyone who opted to follow the events of World Youth Day on his Twitter account. As absurd as that is, it reflects the fact that social media is the new frontier for media and communications. Social media isn’t about to arrive. It has arrived. And It Is Written, which has remained on the cutting edge of technology for almost 70 years, continues to adapt to the social media environment.
“Thank you Pastor. We needed to hear common sense, not sensationalism.” —Instagram user
A recent video we produced specifically for YouTube in March to counter the hype and misinformation regarding the recent total solar eclipse was viewed almost half a million times. We have seen similar numbers for other It Is Written programs and encouraging viewer numbers for It Is Written Sabbath School episodes and Instagram Reels. To be able to produce a 30-minute video in just 36 hours from start to finish, focusing on the three angels’ messages and containing a gospel appeal, and present it to half a million people demonstrates what a potent evangelism tool we have in social media. Thanks to a very generous donation, It Is Written has been able to create a department dedicated to social media. Not only are we increasing our social media output, but we are also producing more programming specifically for social media.