Sandwich Priest Suspended For Plagiarizing Sermons
SANDWICH (CBS) – A priest on Cape Cod has been suspended for plagiarizing sermons.
The Rev. John McGinn, 65, of St. John's Episcopal Church in Sandwich was placed on administrative leave earlier this month after the diocese learned he had allegedly been using other preachers' sermons since 2006.
They were reportedly taken from the subscription website sermons.com.
The Rev. Mally Lloyd, canon to the ordinary for the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, told the Cape Cod Times as many as 15 sermons have been identified as direct copies.
Massachusetts Episcopal Bishop M. Thomas Shaw sent a letter to the St. John's community May 9 informing them of McGinn's suspension.
Lloyd said the diocese is working out a final agreement with McGinn, who told the paper he's going to retire.
The St. John's vestry released this statement to WBZ-TV:
"For 17 years Fr. John McGinn has raised thousand of dollars for local charities and provided pastoral care for hundreds of people on the upper-Cape. Our prayers are with him as the diocese, St. John's church, and Fr. McGinn work to resolve this."
