The Rev. Tammy Garrison finds sermon topics in abundance in the Bible, but when she needs inspiration for modern-day illustrations, she turns to a modern-day medium -- the Internet.

Garrison, associate pastor of Grace United Methodist Church in Conway, Ark., isn't alone.

Like Garrison, many are turning to Web sites like SermonCentral.com in search of ideas or inspiration for their Sunday sermons. SermonCentral provides a venue for pastors to post their material and gives viewers free access to more than 40,000 sermons, illustrations and dramas. A paid subscription at $9.95 a month offers more.

"It's a great place for triggering ideas or to see how someone else might have treated a topic," Garrison said. "I think pastors always want to be original with their content, but at the same time, it helps to look at other materials to make sure you haven't overlooked something."

The Internet is a gold mine of material for church leaders, but it also presents a risk, said Dr. Clayton Schmit, an associate professor of preaching at California's Fuller Theological Seminary.

"There's nothing wrong with these resources," Schmit said. "In fact, they can be very useful. The problem exists when people think those resources are there for the taking, using them instead of writing their own sermons or not giving appropriate credit for materials used."

Plagiarism in the pulpit

The Internet is loaded with tempting sermon material, most offered for a fee. A Google.com search for "sermons" yields more than 817,000 matches. Narrow it down to "sermon resources" and more than 1,400 choices appear. "Sermon help" brings up 2,500.

When in a time crunch, it might be tempting to pull something quickly from a Web site and use as your own, Schmit said. But he believes most pastors use their resources wisely.

"It goes back to the person's theology of preaching," Schmit said. "If someone is using another's material rather than his own or not giving credit for the information he uses, I'd question his integrity to be in a leadership position."

At least one incident of plagiarism in the pulpit hit newswires this year. In January, the rector of a prominent Detroit-area church was suspended for 90 days following accusations he plagiarized material for sermons and newsletters. (See story.)

Members of Christ Church Cranbrook filed a complaint with the Detroit diocese against Pastor Edward Mullins after noticing similarities between his materials and those of another pastor, according to The Detroit Free Press. Mullins returned to the church in late April, apologizing to the congregation. Mullins couldn't be reached for comment.

"I'm sure that often times pastors do not realize how serious of a mistake they're making by not properly crediting work," Schmit said.

Using resources wisely

Garrison has found SermonCentral.com to be so helpful, she's started posting her own sermons on the site. The feedback from other pastors who read or use her sermons is helpful, she said. But she cautions church leaders to be careful when using others' information, including hers.

"You have to be careful not only of citing your sources, but also of what denominational or doctrinal backgrounds those sources are from," she said. "There's lots of stuff out there that has no validity."

SermonCentral makes the search easier, she said, by providing a contributor's background and submitting sermons to a Board of Review for approval prior to posting them.

More than 300 sermons are added to SermonCentral each week by pastors nationwide, said the site's general manager, Brian Mavis. The site logs 120,000 user sessions a week, Mavis said. The scripture search option is the site's most popular feature, he said, followed by illustration searches.

Mavis said he and others keep an eye out for anything that might be in violation of SermonCentral's copyright policy, including plagiarism or content that is not theologically sound. All sermons must be reviewed by Mavis and others with ministry backgrounds prior to posting. The site's users also are invited to bring questionable sermons to Mavis' attention.

Mavis receives no more than two e-mails a month questioning material, he said.

"I don't believe it's as big a problem as one might think given the quantity of resources that are out there," Mavis said. "I'd say in most cases the writers haven't even realized that they're on the verge of plagiarizing someone's material."

More than 90 percent of SermonCentral's users say they use the site primarily to "get their juices flowing," according to a user survey the site conducted.

"Most already know what they'll be preaching on and want to see how another pastor handled the same topic," Mavis said. "At most, they're generally looking for information to help fill in the gaps."

Give credit where credit's due

Schmit spends a good deal of time with his seminary students teaching them how to credit other sources, he said. It can be done without turning sermons into boring, oral bibliographies, Schmit said.

"It's not that it's a hard thing to do," he said. "But it's necessary and should come very naturally to a preacher."

Schmit's advice: When borrowing the words of someone well-known or in a position of authority, use the person's name. Something as simple as saying "as C.S. Lewis has said," is enough to let the congregation know the material is not your own, Schmit said.

When referring to an author or source who is unknown to the congregation, pastors can get away with using more generic phrasing, such as "as one writer puts it."

Footnotes should always be used when a sermon appears in print, Schmit said, clearly indicating the source for information is not your own.

So much emphasis on citing sources might sound like grade school lessons, Garrison said. But she's not leaving anything to chance.

"When I stand in front of my congregation, I want to be absolutely certain that what I'm presenting is theologically sound and above reproach at all levels," she said. "That's part of a pastor's role."