Plagiarizing Unitarian*Universalist Pastors aka PU*UPS And Generative Artificial Intelligence - What's The Connection?

According to this Yet Another U*U blog post, Rev. Daniel Harper got one of *those* emails from the Ministerial *Fellowship* Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Association in early February 2026.

 

The key paragraph read as follows:

“The Ministerial Fellowship Committee voted at its December 2025 meeting to remove the Rev. Benjamin Meyers from fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association for violating the terms of ministerial probation, as related to acts of plagiarism.” 

When Rev. Daniel Harper aka Rev. Dan Harper aka Rev. Crankypants was in the Bay Area, Rev. Ben served at the Berkeley Fellowship and the UUA congregation in San Mateo.

This alleged plagiarism raises a question for Rev. Crankypants:

Does using generative AI to write a sermon count as plagiarism?

Rev. Crankypants is of the opinion that, "Technically, it’s not plagiarism. At the same time, it’s not your own work. It’s an interesting ethical question."

Apparently Rev. Crankypants FAILed to practice Unitarian Universalism's 4th Principle, which calls upon Unitarian*Universalists aka U*Us to engage in a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning", because he FAILed to look up the meaning of the word "plagiarism" in a dictionary before publicly opining that using generative AI aka Generative Artificial Intelligence to write a sermon is "technically" not plagiarism.

Google AI Overview says:

Plagiarism is

the act of using another person's words, ideas, or work—published or unpublished—without proper attribution, presenting them as one's own. It is considered intellectual theft, covering text, art, music, or AI-generated content. Common forms include copying, improper paraphrasing, or failing to cite sources. 

 

The University of Oxford defines plagiarism thusly:

“Presenting work or ideas from another source as your own, with or without consent of the original author, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement. All published and unpublished material, whether in manuscript, printed or electronic form, is covered under this definition, as is the use of material generated wholly or in part through use of artificial intelligence (save when use of AI for assessment has received prior authorisation e.g. as a reasonable adjustment for a student’s disability). Plagiarism can also include re-using your own work without citation. Under the regulations for examinations, intentional or reckless plagiarism is a disciplinary offence.”

 

So. . . according to these and other definitions of plagiarism, using generative AI such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok etc. to write a sermon does count as plagiarism technically*. . .

 

* It depends upon what the meaning of the word "technically" is. . .