LOUISVILLE - They're supposed to be preaching God's word, but experts say the Internet is making it easier for clergy to use the words of others in the pulpit without giving them credit. It's also making this sort of plagiarism easier to catch, they say.

        Although the experts can't tell if so-called “sermon stealing” is on the rise, they say it is an age-old practice that is becoming revitalized with Web sites such as sermons.org, homiliesalive.com and desperatepreacher.com., according to a story in Sunday's editions of the Courier-Journal.

        Within the past year, a minister in Missouri and one in Michigan have been suspended for preaching others' words without giving them credit. Last month, a former Louisville minister apologized for what she said was unintentional plagiarism in a sermon delivered at a national Baptist conference in Texas.

        “People tend to drift into it,” said Richard Stern, associate professor of homiletics at St. Meinrad School of Theology in Indiana and a Lutheran minister. “They get pressured (telling themselves), "I've had three funerals and two weddings, I don't have a sermon ready, so I'll just look into this book or go on the Web.”'

        But while it may be easier to pirate a sermon in the Internet era, it's also easier to catch thieves, said Scott Williamson, assistant professor of ethics at Louisville's Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

        Anyone can search the online databanks of sermons, illustrations, Bible commentaries and jokes. Suspicious parishioners just have to do the checking themselves.

        Sermon Web sites urge - sometimes insist - that preachers be honest when they use the resources.

        John McClure, a professor of preaching at the Presbyterian seminary, said plagiarism is an especially serious violation for preachers.

        “This is God's word,” he said. “It requires the utmost integrity in its proclamation. How dare you lie in the pulpit?”

        Mr. McClure said preachers can and should quote famous religious figures in their sermons - but with proper credit.

        Sermon stealing has been traced back as far as the 16th century, when Protestant reformer Martin Luther criticized priests who used others' printed sermons, Mr. McClure said.

        But recent cases show secondhand sermons are making a comeback.

        The Rev. W. Barnwell Heyward Jr. resigned last October as pastor of Central Presbyterian Church in Clayton, Mo., after admitting to his congregation he had plagiarized sermons.

        In April, the Rev. Edward L. Mullins was restored as pastor of Christ Church Cranbrook of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., after a three-month suspension that partly stemmed from plagiarism, for which he apologized.

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