A church whose pastor plagiarizes sermons

[Motherofkittens]

Hey , mother of kittens. Something seems off about that kitten your holding.
Sorry, I just thought it was funny.

Haha yes, he is a guinea pig.

 

[Archivist]

There are some questions that have not been answered. Is this pastor rereading other people's sermons word for word or just borrowing themes and ideas from them? As others have said, ideas get borrowed all the time as can be expected. There is a limited amount of source material, and in 2000 years there is probably very little that has not already been said. I'm sure that most if not all pastors have heard inspiring sermons and later used thoughts and ideas from those sermons in their own sermons.

Second, is the pastor actually claiming that he wrote the sermon. In other words, is his name going on it? If he is attributing someone else's actual work to himself that is plagerism. If it is simply listed in the bulletin as "The Sermon" I'm not sure that qualifies as plagerism. He is not giving attribution, but he also is not actually claiming it to be his own work.

 

[CyberPaladin]

There are some questions that have not been answered. Is this pastor rereading other people's sermons word for word or just borrowing themes and ideas from them? As others have said, ideas get borrowed all the time as can be expected. There is a limited amount of source material, and in 2000 years there is probably very little that has not already been said. I'm sure that most if not all pastors have heard inspiring sermons and later used thoughts and ideas from those sermons in their own sermons.

Second, is the pastor actually claiming that he wrote the sermon. In other words, is his name going on it? If he is attributing someone else's actual work to himself that is plagerism. If it is simply listed in the bulletin as "The Sermon" I'm not sure that qualifies as plagerism. He is not giving attribution, but he also is not actually claiming it to be his own work.

I'd say another question that needs to be ask is what sites and books did he get these sermons from were they intended to be premade sermons for use or reference materials. Although the frequency would still be concerning.

 

[jax5434]

There are a number of sites where pastors make their sermons available for others to use. If he is using one of these sites then it may not be plagiarism.

 

[Mike Olson 77]

There are a number of sites where pastors make their sermons available for others to use. If he is using one of these sites then it may not be plagiarism.

You have no idea on the definition of plagiarism. Those sermon sites provide sermons for a study purpose, not for the word-for-word copy-paste purpose, which is plagiarism and dishonesty.

 

[Archivist]

You have no idea on the definition of plagiarism. Those sermon sites provide sermons for a study purpose, not for the word-for-word copy-paste purpose, which is plagiarism and dishonesty.

Perhaps in some cases, but not all. I was just looking at a site called preachology.com that has sermons for pastors to use "as you see fit." You are correct that if the website says the sermons are for study purposes only then it would be plagiarism to use them. However if they are posted for free use that is a different matter. Without having more detail it is impossible to say whether it is plagerism or not.

 

[Tinker Grey]

Defining Plagiarism: define plagiarism - Google Search

If you use someone else's work with or without permission and allow people to believe that it is your own work, you have committed plagiarism.

 

[dayhiker]

I think most pastors pull in other peoples work when they preach. Most pastors are way too busy with all that is on their plate to think up original sermons.
I know there are books of sermons, have been fo0r decades if not centuries. Most of them are to help pastors have quality material and ideas to preach from.
I think it would be wise for a pastor to acknowledge quotes that he uses and most pastors I know do that.

I do remember years ago buying a book on a topic I was interested in. As I am reading the book I realize that I'm hearing the voice of a pastor who preached the same topic. This man had copied the sermon and wrote many passages word for word as it was preached and gave no credit to the original pastor who peached it.

So it goes on a lot in church leadership. I've only heard of it being brought to court once I think.

 

[Archivist]

Defining Plagiarism: define plagiarism - Google Search

If you use someone else's work with or without permission and allow people to believe that it is your own work, you have committed plagiarism.

The example I gave earlier in the thread is what happens in my church where the Sermon is listed as such with no accreditation.

 

[Archivist]

And for the record, I am not a pastor I am a professor. If I quote someone word for word I give proper attribution. But I have yet to see any lectures posted on line, at least not in my field, with blanket permission for others to use as they see fit as was the case of the free sermon website I referenced.

 

[Eryk]

There is a company called Docent that basically writes sermons for pastors, but not all pastors can afford them. Ghostwriting is rampant in Christian publishing. These ghostwriters are paid to take no credit for what they write. The world of megachurches, conferences, and publishing is celebrity-driven. They are like pop singers who are given songwriter's royalties for almost no contribution ("a third for a word") to make them look better.

 

[W Johnson]

I have had pastors that have used other people’s sermons, but they have always given credit to the person before giving the sermon.

 

[Rebecca12]

Not a Christian so I didn't vote. Certainly there was plagiarism as credit was not given to the author. Plagiarism is an ethical issue. Depending on the facts it might also be copyright infringement, which is a legal issue. (Retired IP lawyer here, so interesting to see this thread)