A Web-based communication software platform launched yesterday at Seventh-day Adventist world church headquarters is expected to help connect an estimated 16 million members and marks the latest development in the global Protestant denomination’s use of technology.

Developed by Three Angels Global Networking (TAGnet)—a lay-owned supporting ministry of the church—netAdventist 3.0 software combines local Web sites with live streams of information and resources from the global church.

A license agreement between the Adventist Church and TAGnet during church business meetings last fall first made the netAdventist software package available to local churches and other denominational entities at no cost. Now, with its official launch, the software is expected to garner widespread use.

During the launch ceremony, TAGnet chief executive officer Dan Houghton said netAdventist “can be a bridge to help take the church around the world” and that he hoped the software would “expand, morph and work in ways that only God knows.”

The user-friendly software is designed to be fully adaptable to local needs, Houghton told a group of church leaders and technologists gathered for the launch. 

“[NetAdventist] makes online ministry easy for church members and leaders,” said John Beckett, director of the church’s new Office of Global Software and Technology. “It is designed so people can focus on sharing publications, sermons and photos without worrying about the technical aspects of running a Web site,” said Beckett, who demonstrated the software at the launch.

Tom and Violet Zapara, Adventist philanthropists from California, were honored at the launch for their contribution to the realization of the church’s software initiative, which began in the early 90s. Tom cautioned church leaders not to let the software stagnate and called for a system of continual updates.  “When something new comes along we can use to help spread the good news, we’ve got to get on it,” he said.

Lowell Cooper, a vice president of the world church and chair of the committee overseeing the Office of Global Software and Technology, said he hoped netAdventist would “amplify and extend the ability of the church to speak the gospel message to the world.”

Not only should the church’s use of technology “be the best in the world,” Cooper said, it should “be the best for the world.”

World church president Jan Paulsen, who also offered remarks at the launch, thanked the TAGnet team and said netAdventist “speaks to two of the fundamental values of our church: mission and unity.”

Paulsen then referenced church co-founder Ellen G. White’s call for the church to “‘introduce new methods [of outreach]’” and “‘awake to the necessities of the time[s].’ Well, netAdventist is truly a recognition of the times in which we are living,” Paulsen said.