Multimillion-dollar evangelism media ministry It Is Written opened its new headquarters in Collegedale last month.
Staff began working in the 41,000-square-foot, $8 million building near Tennessee State Route 317 in September. The organization, which began in 1956 and broadcasts weekly evangelism programs around the world, moved to the Chattanooga area from Simi Valley, California, and had been renting a space near Highway 58 since 2014.
The decision to come to Tennessee and specifically to Collegedale was one the Seventh-day Adventist company studied and prayed about, said John Bradshaw, president of the organization.
"The ministry is growing, and moving here has facilitated a lot of that growth in terms of what we're able to do with our income that we weren't able to do before and the kinds of people that we have been able to attract," he said.
He said the move is creating new opportunities for the organization. So far, more than 40 new positions have been created and more than 20 people have been brought into Hamilton County, Bradshaw said.
It's also beneficial practically and spiritually, Bradshaw said.
The media ministry is donor-funded, so the lower cost of living and doing business in the South means the organization can stretch its donation dollars further, he said. In 2017, the ministry brought in more than $11.5 million in contributions, according to available tax records.
Staff photo by Wyatt Massey / Charles Reel, treasurer for It Is Written, points out the media ministry's new editing room in Collegedale on Dec. 4. The new studio will allow the ministry to live edit its evangelism films. People in the area are familiar with Christian ministries, so It Is Written does not have to sell them on the idea, Bradshaw said. Being close to Southern Adventist University allows them to tap into local talent, too.
"Creative organizations that aren't reloading with smart, creative people end up dying," Bradshaw said. "So we've been able to continually reload with people who are right at the cutting-edge of media production and that has been an immense benefit to us."
The new building has an expanded area for sets to record programs, a warehouse housing the organization's educational materials and a studio that will allow workers to edit programs as they are being recorded, said Charles Reel, It Is Written treasurer.
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