Borrowed Sermons Roil Downtown Congregation

The Washington Post ^ | August 16, 2003 | Bill Broadway

[Interesting Times]

The parish nurse began to unravel the unusual pattern one Sunday in June when she went on the Internet and entered the title of that day's scheduled sermon at National City Christian Church. The Rev. Alvin O'Neal Jackson, a charismatic preacher and leader of the denomination, had chosen his subject and titled it "Sorry Mr. President, I Don't Dance."

But the search engine Google revealed that a sermon with the same title had been delivered months earlier by the Rev. Thomas K. Tewell, pastor of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City. The nurse, Kathy McGregor, then went to the landmark church on Thomas Circle NW for the Sunday service, printout in hand.

"One my favorite movies is Harrison Ford's 'Clear and Present Danger,'" Jackson began, matching word for word the text on her lap. And then Jackson proceeded to quote most of Tewell's sermon.

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continued...

[Interesting Times]

This clown is, or was, the 'rising star' of the DoC national leadership, darling of the leftist agitators who took over in the '70s. Notice how artfully he weasels as he tries to position himself as a victim.

Jackson is scheduled to moderate the national convention in October. It will be entertaining to watch his fellow travellers deflect any suggestion that Jackson is unfit to lead just because he steals the sermons of other ministers.

[Interesting Times]

Ping.

[Interesting Times]

Ping.

[AppyPappy]

Add lying to the list. He told staffers he had permission to use the sermons but later "clarified" that remark.

[fishtank]

Why can libs get away with political sermons but conservatives can't?

[steplock]

Errr... what is wrong with that?

Would repeating Scriptures be plagerism? in that case?

I would do that, but probalbt begin with womething like, I heard this at another church..... (if he didn't know exacly who)

or someone could have simply sent him a copy and told him "Hey check this one out!"

A non-story - plagerism is only important in politics and copyrighted materials

[RightWhale]

he steals the sermons of other ministers

If someone in the parish asked him, he would probably and happily list all his sources. It is not required to list such during the sermon itself; that is not the purpose of the sermon. A sermon is not a scholarly dissertation in itself, although it might be in a different venue. If he claimed to have written the sermon himself, that would be a different matter.

[aimhigh]

let's see, are these inspired by the Holy Spirit of the Internet?

[AppyPappy]

All sermons are assumed to be original. He should have sourced the material if it wasn't. My guess is that he was being less than honest.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Hmmm... I have a book at home that contains every word in that sermon...

[RightWhale]

All sermons are assumed to be original.

Original thought, within the confines of the scripture, is valued. Doesn't mean original thought is expected in the pulpit all the time. If it's all regurgitation all the time, but accurate regurgitation, and if it's a good message, there's not much harm. I wouldn't attend a church where the sermons are less than original, or even insipid, but then I have had a large exposure to high-quality sermons with dynamic delivery and have elevated expectations. I expect sourcing, but if sourcing isn't given, I find no fault. Sunday morning charity.

[Interesting Times]

Add lying to the list. He told staffers he had permission to use the sermons but later "clarified" that remark.

Yep, and add arrogance as well. Surely it must have occurred to Jackson that somebody would match up his sermons with the online originals sooner or later. Now that he's caught he issues a meaningless apology, then attacks those who find it inadequate as having a "vendetta" against him. He also claims that everybody does it, and suggests he's entitled to steal the work of others since it's really the "word of God."

Clearly, Jackson expects to get away with this.

One wonders what else he has gotten away with over the years...

[AppyPappy]

I would think a minister would want to be above reproach. It sounds like this guy was just using other people's works verbatim as if they were his own.

Actually, this is more common than you think.

[ColdSteelTalon]

A preacher is supposed to be lead by the Holy Spirit when preaching. The Holy Spirit guides the preacher to preach on certain verses in the Bible.

A preacher that uses someone elses sermon plan obviously is not being lead by the Holy Spirit.

Being a Baptist I would immediatley move for vote of removal for a pastor who did something like this.

[Interesting Times]

If someone in the parish asked him, he would probably and happily list all his sources. It is not required to list such during the sermon itself; that is not the purpose of the sermon. A sermon is not a scholarly dissertation in itself, although it might be in a different venue. If he claimed to have written the sermon himself, that would be a different matter.

This isn't a matter of unattributed sources, but of verbatim repetition of large chunks of text, presented as his own thought, then sold in boxed sets. It isn't clear whether Jackson is liable for prosecution, but the fact that he stole and misrepresented the work of other ministers is unmistakable.

[eggman]

"We don't say we're presenting our word but the word of God," Jackson said of preachers. "It's better to give attribution, but we all borrow."

The word of God is being channeled to him through the Internet?

Jackson used Tewell's work in a 12-week series he preached last fall that was boxed and sold for $50.

His salary is $168,000, excluding benefits.

Channing Phillips, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, said reselling copyrighted material under a different name would constitute a copyright violation. Whether the government pursued prosecution would depend on such considerations as whether the seller profited, he said.

Sounds to me like he is profiting quite well from his borrowed sermons.

[cyphergirl]

"A non-story - plagerism is only important in politics and copyrighted materials"

All works are considered "copyrighted" to the author at the moment they are created. You don't have to register them to benefit from the protection of the law.


-- me (a registered copyright owner)

[Interesting Times]

On the Ethics of Sermons

[txzman]

"A non-story - plagerism is only important in politics and copyrighted materials"

BS! This man lied and sinned in front of his congregation, in a most egregious manner. By Scriptural definitions in Timothy, he does not qualify as a teacher and leader of the faithful.

If his church decides to keep him, that is of course their right. But make no mistake, what this man did in the course of his religious responsibility was NOT trivial.

[libstripper]

The original sermons are all automatically copyrighted under United States copyright law. A copyright automatically attached as soon as someone creates an original work; no specific registration is necessary. Thus, the good reverend is in potentially very deep brown smelly stuff.