July 29, 2002
CBF officials comment on plagiarism
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___The top staff member of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has issued a statement clarifying his opposition to plagiarism but expressing confidence in a staff member charged with plagiarizing a sermon.
___"In recent days, much has been written about Reba Cobb's message at the Baptist Women in Ministry gathering prior to the (CBF) general assembly in Fort Worth," said Daniel Vestal, coordinator of the Atlanta-based CBF. "Her message did indeed contain extensive material from written sources, as she has acknowledged.
___"Reba made a mistake," Vestal said. "She has apologized for it and feels badly about it. She trusted a person to do research and help her craft the message. That person used material from a printed source without her knowledge. Still, she has accepted her responsibility and admitted an error in judgment."
___Cobb was hired in February 2001 as CBF's resource center director, making her the chief operating officer under Vestal.
___A Baptist Press reporter present at the June 27 annual meeting of Baptist Women in Ministry reported that Cobb delivered a sermon that was almost word-for-word identical to a message written by another minister and published in a book for sale in the CBF exhibit hall.
___When confronted by the BP reporter, Cobb said she did not know her sermon material wasn't original because she had paid a research assistant to prepare the sermon for her. Although she declined to identify the assistant, she said the person subsequently admitted to plagiarizing the sermon.
___Cobb admitted to a "grave error in judgment" that she said resulted in her "unwittingly presenting portions of a message that had earlier been presented by another minister."
___According to the BP analysis and CBF officials, Cobb's sermon consisted almost entirely of the published sermon and included personal illustrations Cobb attributed to herself but that also were presented in the original sermon.
___Cobb, who was vacationing in Europe, has issued no further statement on the matter.
___Vestal, however, vowed CBF will "move past this and continue in our mission to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission."
___"I have every confidence in Reba," he said in a statement released to the Baptist Standard July 22. "She is a person of impeccable integrity with a great gift of leadership. She is a valued asset, and I look forward to her continued ministry in CBF."
___Likewise, Phill Martin, newly elected moderator of the CBF, told the Baptist Standard plagiarism is not a value embraced by the CBF.
___"We are saddened by Reba's action," said Martin, who lives in Richardson. "She has apologized and accepted responsibility. This is an anomaly in her leadership style and inconsistent with the character of CBF.
___"This incident raises a red flag in the entire CBF organization that plagiarism is unethical and must be avoided at all levels," he added. "We are in dialogue within the organization and expect to move beyond this incident to continue the task of supporting churches and individual Christians."
___Cobb's sermon has been referenced in editorials in the Baptist Standard, the Virginia Religious Herald and the North Carolina Biblical Recorder. It also was highlighted in a Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal story on plagiarism.
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