WASHINGTON — 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."
The Google search engine 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 National City 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 McGregor’s printout. And then Jackson proceeded to quote most of Tewell’s sermon.
Over the next few weeks, others in the flagship congregation of the 800,000-member Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) joined McGregor’s search. The trail of "borrowed" sermons now stretches back at least a year and a half. Jackson used Tewell’s work in a 12-week series he preached last fall that was boxed and sold for $50. He has also borrowed from the Rev. John Buchanan, pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, including a sermon Jackson used on Easter Sunday last year.
The revelations have roiled National City, a 160-year-old congregation where U.S. Presidents James A. Garfield and Lyndon B. Johnson once worshiped. Some members who have tracked down the sermons describe the process as wrenching.
"Its been one of the most spiritually devastating things to me and to other people," said McGregor, whose search that day was prompted by the sermon’s title because it suggested an opposition to the war in Iraq that Jackson had never expressed. "I’ve been crying for a month."
Tewell, meanwhile, is alleging plagiarism, while Jackson is left to explain his liberal use of someone else’s preachings.
Jackson in August acknowledged using sermons from Tewell and Buchanan and said he was at fault for not giving them credit.
"I take full responsibility for what I’ve done," Jackson said. "It was poor judgment on my part." He said that admitting fault "apparently is not enough" for some members, whom he accused of having a "vendetta" against him and "who want to turn my personal failure into a national expose." Asked why someone would have a vendetta, Jackson said: "I don’t know. I am not spending a lot of time thinking about it."
Jackson also cited a year and a half of "major personal crisis," including back surgery, and said that borrowing from sermons without attribution is "not part of my normal practice." He also said he was "overextended, preaching not only at National City but all over the world."
Jackson, who holds the highest elected position in the denomination, also said sermons are held "to a different standard" and are fair game as long as the person using the material doesn’t publish them in book form as his own.
"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."
But Tewell said Jackson’s ample use of his own copyrighted work crossed a line in a way he has never heard of, or seen. "It seems like he directly plagiarized a lot of material," Tewell said. "My sermons are so personal, it’s hard for me to conceive of anyone doing that."
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
