"The Article That Started It All"

Today I want to point out a trend I noticed after doing some research. The number of online articles on pastoral plagiarism seemed to balloon around the year 2006.

That's because in March of 2006, Steve Sjogren wrote an article on Rick Warren's website, Pastors.com, entitled "Don’t Be Original – Be Effective!" where Mr. Sjogren argues that it's completely acceptable for pastors to plagiarize their sermons.

 Of course, as you can see HERE, the article was removed during the dust-up that followed. But thanks to the miracle of modern technoloty, you may read an archive of the article HERE.

Ironically, you may not plagiarize Mr. Sjogren himself without written permission, or at least acknowledgment of him as the source! (See HERE.)

Since so much of the material found on this website refers to this article, it would be a good idea to check out "the article that started it all."

Also,this article and some other similar issues led to a feature on Pulpit Plagiarism in the Wall Street Journal later that year on November 16, 2006. See HERE.