Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "Two Encouraging Comments: From 29A and Pope Paul t...":
Pastor Jackson -
In the future, could you do an article about Lutheran pastors plagiarizing their sermons.
I suspect that the practice is widespread. But, "how" widespread? I've witnessed it not too long ago, because I visited the WELS website and saw a series of sermons on the gifts of the Spirit from Romans 12. Then I listened to a sermon from that series. I think it was about Samuel's mother, Hannah, if my recall serves me correctly.
Since, then, I have not been able to locate on the WELS website where the pastors can acquire their Sunday canned sermons.
Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel
www.thechristianmessage.org
www.moralmatters.org
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GJ - I have heard about the canned sermons from WELS. I am not sure where they are from. Copying sermons verbatim is fairly common, but despicable. Congregations should view it as a violation of the call, especially when a Lutheran copies from a non-Lutheran, claims the sermon as his own, and publishes the sermon on the parish website.
John Parlow has been caught doing this. When I compared his sermon to the original, his congregation stopped posting the sermon. Now people have to request the sermon from the office.
Parlow and Limmer copied an email from Hybels (Willow Creek) and sent it around as their own, changing just a few words.
Another Appleton area pastor copied Chuck Swindoll verbatim and published it in his congregational website.
Tim Glende and Ski were obviously copying Craig Groeschel sermons and giving them - same titles, same texts, same context. Glende claimed that was not true and excommunicated the member who caught him at it. WELS promotes plagiarism and lying about plagiarism. I have seen the same obvious patterns of plagiarism in their sermons, but the titles do not show up on Google searches. Either they have Groeschel's style on their own or the Groeschel sermons are now behind a firewall. Deputy Doug, the DP, approves of clergy plagiarism but blames all his troubles on my blog.
Groschel told his disciples to be honest about the sermons and graphics he gave away. He mentioned one minister being fired for not admitting to kelming his sermons. Given clergy laziness, Groeschel might have set up the fire wall.
Some have asked me to check out other sermons, since I have software to check for plagiarism all over the Net. The sermons have sounded suspect but did not register on Turn-It-In. They were original and sounded phony or they used some cloaking mechanism. One way would be to send recordings around or post the audio alone, so word matches would not show up unless other congregations copied them the same way. Another way would be to use a secure log-in (https) to hide content.
When a pastor is hotter than Georgia asphalt for one of these mega-church leaders, it is easy to tell. He borrows a motto (Ski) or joins the association (Parlow - Willow Creek). Some checking around will turn up common themes and texts.
Non-Lutherans like Groeschel are fond of sermon series with clever names. When I see a four-part series with a clever name, promoted at a Lutheran church, I suspect an alien source.
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Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "Pastors Plagiarizing Platitudes":
Pastor Jackson,
Thank you. Yes, I agree - some tell-tale signs of plagiarizing sermons, are, as you say, common titles, texts and themes. Also, what I think contributes, (although) not the cause, are the designated pericopes which seem to be, synodically encouraged. There is no substitute for boring - having everyone do the same thing. Recently I remember seeing an online reference to a WELS publication by a WELS (southern state pastor) which was [is] to be an "aid" to WELS pastors. If my memory recall serves me correctly, it was giving pericope themes with some short notes, according to the particular pericope church year.
I'm suspicious of plagiarizing sermons, when a sermon is delivered with a construction content that begins with an illustration and which carries its "puppy" thematic illustration, throughout, to the bitter end. The illustration often becomes more, the content than the actual substance. It leaves the pew listener thinking to himself, - "How is pastor going to tie in, this over bloated illustration that he has spent 5 minutes constructing in his introduction? How is he going to end this with the same thing, and tie it into all his illustration airbrushed retelling of the Biblical narrative that is sandwiched between?" I think that these type sermons hinder the Spirit's influence upon the soul which needs to hear from his pastor and from God, on a particular Sunday morning.
Perhaps, I am one who expects too much, since I was a second career seminary student and had some life experience and other types of employment behind me, before being ordained and out in the parish ministry field. Regardless, though, I think that there is no excuse for sermon plagiarizing. If a young pastor does not possess the life experience and have some of his own ideas – (and, especially, the words) to present, - then, he should be spending more time reading, praying and meditating upon the Word, - and, especially exercising his faith, looking to the Holy Spirit to give him some fresh manna Word. That, may take some time, though, – precious time spent detracting from developing a “necessary” “church growth” program.
Nathan M. Bickel - pastor emeritus
www.thechristianmessage.org
www.moralmatters.org
