Ghost-writing for Christian Leaders
Posted on October 30th, 2007 by David Mackin into the Uncategorized, David Mackin Writes: categorySMT recently posted that there are changes happening in a certain local church's publishing department. Among other items, he said that one of the employees was ousted…
I heard that this employee, whom I have never met but about whom others have told me is a very warm and kind man, has begun to write his own materials. He was the co-author with the pastor he works for on a book on finances. It is possible, when a ghost-writer or co-author who actually works for a senior pastor begins to write his own books, that conflicts can arise.
Such conflicts can range from the use of company/church time for writing, what materials belong to whom (copyright issues), presenting views different than the sr. pastor (unity issues), distribution in the church (sheep ownership issues), royalties, lack of wrtten agreements, competing with the sr. minister (power struggles), etc.
Many years ago, I had my own conflict with a certain pastor who I will call Sam (name changed). Sam gave me his leadership notes and asked me to write them up into book form. I added my own original chapter on The Leader and the Anointing of the Spirit as well as other research. This later became the first edition of his best-selling book on leadership. Because of the amount of work that I was putting into the formation of the book, and because Sam and I had no written agreement between us, I asked him if I could be a co-author of the book and have my name on the cover with his. He said no. To reconcile our differences, we met with another minister who helped us work out an agreement. The end result was that Sam paid me about $1200.00 for my efforts; we signed a contract and this made the situation a "work for hire." A "work of hire" meant that Sam hired me to do what I was doing with his notes, and I would have no name on the cover or any rights in the book.
In similar cases, this is called being a "ghost writer" - pastor/leaders who do not have the time and/or the talent to write hire others to take their tapes, CDs, ideas, sermons, pod casts, and/or notes and turn them into books. It's done all the time. Candidly, this situation with Sam bothered me for many years. By God's grace, however, when I ran into Sam many years later, I talked with him about my feelings and broke down in his office in tears - grieving the hurt and totally forgiving him. As I share this, I am not sharing it in bitterness or anger but just as a matter of fact that others may see the reality of the way many churches and ministries are run and the importance of having written agreements - even among Christians!
Relatedly, many years ago, Joel (name changed), and I went to the then head of our local church's publishing department, Aaron (name changed) about producing a book on personal evangelism, one of Joel's gifts. Aaron gave us a contract to consider. (I do not know for sure how much of the contract was Aaron's idea and how much was from the church leadership.) Joel and I took the contract to a professional author and writers' consultant and asked her what she thought of it. She told us that if we signed such a top-down, church-controlled contract, in her opinion, we'd be crazy! So, we never pursued the idea further. When we talked to Aaron about the project, he mentioned something to the effect that a church never knows when one of their staff might might become as well-known as Billy Graham. (Eventually, the church let Aaron go.)
I felt that I wanted to take this opportunity to caution those who work for the church or a ministry that there is a fine line between serving your leader and being unfairly exploited. There also is nothing wrong with having written contracts - even when Christian pastor/leaders are involved.
Overall, in each of our endeavors with others, maybe you would like to join me as I remind myself of the words of the apostle Paul:
"Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another…" (Romans 12:10, KJV).
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October 30th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
I recall about 10-11 years ago the Brots were stuper deacons and seemed to have aspirations to move up the chain at city bible…
October 31st, 2007 at 1:57 am
Just to add a note here…the loyal employees of CBC, who have worked for low wages to bless the church, have been hit with picking up 15% of their health care costs. I guess the mandatory 10% tithe wasn’t enough!
Kind of like a reverse bonus, just in time for the holidays! Of course, this decision was made by the leadership after prayer and fasting.
This is in addition to laying off all but 3 of the crew at publishing.
I’ll throw in the latest “Prayer and Fasting” guide for Financial Breakthrough and Release of Surplus:
1. Fast and pray for godly insight about giving and receiving finances
2. ” ” new disciplines for handling money.
3. ” ” new increases of faith for finance
4. ” ” our confession to align with the Word
5. ” ” financial breakthroughs in personal life
6. ” ” in business life
7. ” ” financial strongholds to be removed
8. ” “biblical discernment with all investing
9. ” “all surplus hinderances to be removed
10.” “God to reveal the cause of financial bondage
11.” “new desire to give above your tithe
12.” “faith to be a faithful giver at all times
13.” “freedom from greed or waste of any kind
14.” “financial miracles to be released in your world
15.” “for a surplus of finances to flow through your hands
16.” “God to supply abundant resources for the church
17.” “God to open the windows of heaven now
18.” “God to give supernatural wisdom abundantly
19.” “God to rebuke the devourer from our finances
20.” “wisdom not to misdirect financial resources
21.” “every person to be a tithe giver
F. Damazio
Is it just me, or does this sound a bit desperate? Is there a balloon payment coming due, or what?
October 31st, 2007 at 6:33 am
I don’t think you have to be a prophet to know that a church system based upon beating the sheep to produce more wool will eventually fail. When the sheep have all been driven off, the shepherds will have no one to fleece.
As far as ghost writing is concerned, I think it can work in the right context. But when it comes to church leadership, I think it’s just plain rude and selfish to reap the rewards (book revenues) without even giving credit to those who did all the work. But these mega-church pastors are so good at riding upon the backs of others, and they convince people to feel good about it, as if they are doing the work of God.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:48 am
In response to whatHesaid’s comment;
S- of- a -B !! Are there no limits to where some church leaders will go to accomplish their goals?
Someone has said before, “when you think they have reached an all time low, someone along and breaks out the shovel”
When is enough, enough? Will this ever stop? Maybe! Only when people stop allowing themselves to be lemmings in sheeps clothing.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:52 am
Well, it’s not like they pay a living wage to anyone but the “pastors” anyway, but wow. So now employee’s are mandatorily giving up at least 25% of their checks?
Incredible. As I’ve said before (http://www.citybusinesschurch.org/blog/2005/02/16/titheor-else/), the blessings of heaven didn’t really start opening up for me until I stopped giving them all my time and money.
October 31st, 2007 at 11:27 am
sheesh.. God forbid someone work on a book while employed by the church…
I heard of one elder/staff using office staff to organize, shop, you name it for their child’s wedding and making requests of staff to do some of the stuff on their “off” hours…. talk about abusing the system
October 31st, 2007 at 11:30 am
also… regarding brott being fired/layed off…
I recall a few years back I had changed careers and was in a bit of a hole financially until I got up and running. I needed an important house repair. I had money to buy necessary items but not the extra few $100 for the labor. The Brott’s were stuper deacons over my district at the time and so I phoned to see if they could help me find someone to help me with installation and not have to pay the high amount. She bluntly told me perhaps I should not have changed my jobs and then I would have had the money needed to hire a high-priced installer….
SO…. Mr. Brott.. … perhaps you should have never left your private sector job in the first place. . what goes around comes around ??
November 1st, 2007 at 7:05 am
KM/LT: Thanks so much for sharing some parallel examples from your own life! They were certainly germane. I don’t really like the way that ghost writing works either: sometimes the celebrity has a lot of notes to give to the ghost writer, at other times, s/he has very little and, like you said, only an idea. It’s interesting that in the Roman empire, the one who was considered the author of a piece of art, book or sculpture was the one who sponsored its production and not the one who took the pen, brush or mallot in hand! ‘Different, huh?!
Oh, and thanks for coming out of the AKA closet on this one. It would appear that you came out because of how strong your feelings are on this subject - even though you mentioned a former leader of yours. Is that the first time you have come out on the blog? I may write a blog piece on the pros and cons of coming out of the AKA Closet. How would you feel about that since I know you;ve previously shared some of the cons to doing so…?
November 1st, 2007 at 7:23 am
WhatHEsaid,
Thanks for sharing some first hand information with us! I’d like to put it into my files for future reference. Would you mind providing us with the day/month/year, whether it was in the bulletin or on the PowerPoint, and whether it was an exact quote or not? That way I can possibly use it with confidence in the future. Thanks!
Your comment about church staff medical insurance brought this to mind: After about eight years of working for Portland Bible College/Bible Temple and never asking for a raise, I got up the gumption to do so. When they gave me one, it was about $150.00 more (per month or paycheck, I think). Anyway, the amount did not come to me as a raise because of how the church was fiddling around at the time with pre-tax dollars and the IRS. So, it was a wash.
I asked both Pastor Iverson and Ken Malmin, PBC acad. dean, if I could moonlight. One gave the impression that I could; the other said no. Mixed signals so I never did get a side job. We couldn’t have made it through those days if it hadn’t have been for help from family. Unfortunately, I think that there was an attitude at BT that if some staff family couldn’t make it on the staff salary, then another family would step up to the plate. I see now that such an atmosphere is directly connected to three false doctrines: the romanticization of ministry position, the exclusivicity of the local church and withdrawal from “secular” society.
I don’t have all of the figures in front of me but my guess would be that Frank Damazio, when looking at the need to cut costs for the church probably because of the costs of the Vancouver campus, decided to make the staff pay more for their health insurance packages instead of cutting back on his vision of nine simulcast campuses.
This reminds me of when Ira Washburn asked Dick Iverson to slow down his building of the domes because only half of the money they needed each time they asked the congregation for money was coming in. Pastor Iverson said no and lunged ahead putting BT/CBC in the deepest debt that had ever been in.
What is it about human ambition anyway that will push ahead even when it’s not the wisest or best thing to do for all of those involved?
November 1st, 2007 at 8:43 am
Re: coming out
I think I put my own name b/c writing under an alias is like ghostwriting which I’m against. Not really, but the parallel seemed to provide a good excuse for using my own name.
I’ve never been afraid of people knowing who I am, more that they would know who I’m refering to. I think back when David joined the forum I gave out enough clues to my identity that anyone who knew me would recognize me and those who didn’t wouldn’t.
I’m still not keen on people knowing the leaders I’ve referred to, but I will say this. The main difficulties I had were with HER. She is the one who was unforgiving and manipulative. He made errors in judgement like any human. I have nothing against either now and only hope for their best.
KM
November 1st, 2007 at 10:24 am
It is interesting to note that CBC doesn’t know how to spend money wisely. Lately there are a lot of interesting thing coming up inside the church. 1) In staff devotions the leaders asked the staffs to pray for more money because they are drained financially. 2) Boiler below dorm 1 broke down. The replacement cost is over fourty thousand dollars. They rented a boiler and monthly bill is over a thousand dollars plus others. They are planning to have the original boiler replaced by end of this year. Maybe this issue drained them financially. 3) They have the lobby carpet removed and never been replaced or do anything with it. The leaders do not know what to do with it and yet they are complaining that the lobby is echoing. 4) Laying off staffs at publishing. Does it sound strange that faith harvest is around the corner amid these issues?
November 1st, 2007 at 11:00 am
Not really, Faith Harvest is always this time of year…however…it is strange since they recently completed their “Forward Together to Raise Money to Pay off the Debt Campaign” in which they attepted to raise close to 5 million dollars.
November 1st, 2007 at 10:13 pm
I have noticed the portable boiler roaring away when I went to a sports event at the gym. $40K is likely just for a package boiler. The asbestos clean up of an old system like that could be a lot more. Of course they might be able
to get the students to tear it out without realizing what they are exposed to….
It is interesting that after all the preaching about God wanting us to be wealthy/healthy/wise, they seem to be broke and out of ideas. But, not to worry, in the end it will all be the peoples’ fault! After all, THEY can’t be wrong!
November 1st, 2007 at 10:16 pm
Re: whatHesaid…Oct.31
In addition to the 21 prayer points at the bottom of the page was listed scriptures to meditate on…as follows:
Psalms 37:4-7 Matt. 6:33-34 Lk. 16:10,13
Prov. 1:5 Num. 30:2 Psalms 50:14,15
Prov.11:24 Ex.34:26 Prov. 28:27
Mark 12:41 Lk. 6:29-30 John 12:3-7
Rom. 12:6,8 2 Cor. 9:7 Psalms 37:19
2 Cor.9:7 Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver.
“Let”–NOT insist NOT require NOT force
…do just as HE (NOT we/IC) has purposed in HIS heart
NOT ……under compulsion!!!!
Compulsory—Coercive,Required,Mandatory,Obligatory,Commanded…
Someone please please tell me how they are getting away with it….
I just cannot get my brain around why there isn’t an intelligent life form in leadership that does’nt have a sense of honor (the b—s) to tell them (in a diplomatic way of course) mandatory deduction of tithes is unscriptural, etc,etc,etc fill in the blanks.
And they think their suggested scripture reading supports their case.
Mark 12:41 And He sat down opposite the treasury and began observing how the multitude were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums.
As RP posted Christ wasn’t impressed… they gave out of their surplus, it was in no way shape or form a sacrifice… the widows offering was her all….ITS the heart attitude NOT the money.
I just read an interesting article in Charisma Nov.07-by Phil Cooke-Fundraising Giver, Beware!
Last paragraph…”But I am suggesting we become informed givers. Don’t be a ministry zombie and give on impulse—for any reason. Give because you’ve researched a ministry, believe in what it’s doing in the world, and have CONFIRMED ITS INTEGRITY and TRACK RECORD. Then pray about the gift. Giving for any other reason is usually a waste of money.’
I shouldn’t post this late at night….now I’m not going to get any sleep!!!!
I
November 2nd, 2007 at 7:39 am
One more thought…It’s as if all leadershiip have lost their conscious’.
November 5th, 2007 at 8:52 pm
I’m now wondering if Rich Brott’s dismissal (if true) came about as a result of the churches’ nearly $360G overdraft in the years’ budget.
Mr. Brott and Frank Damazio co-authored 2 or 3 books about financial freedom. One can’t help but wonder if words were exchanged over this matter.
On Amazon.com, their books are listed as Rich Brott & Frank Damazio. Funny thing, at City Publishing, they are listed as Frank Damazio and Rich Brott. Does anyone see a “control/ego” issue here?
November 7th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
smt said: (1) In staff devotions the leaders asked the staffs to pray for more money because they are drained financially.
smt: I’m not sure what you mean by the “staffs” - I assume that the elders asked their support staffs (secretaries, etc.) for prayer.
This reminds me when Bible Temple was in the middle of raising money to build the two domes. During one altar call, Pastor Iverson called for all of those who were in financial need to come forward for prayer. I saw scores of church staffers come forward. At that time, however, I don’t think that Pastor Iverson had made the tithe deductions automatic like I have heard Pastor Frank has done. (Has he really done this?) I know of other churches in the Portland-Vanc area that do.
Also, has City Bible Church put an ATM machine in its lobby yet? According to what one of the members of Pastor Bill Ritchie’s church in Vancouver, WA, Crossroads, told me the other day: there is an ATM machine in their church lobby. Is this convenience, greed, encouraging debt or what? Pretty soon churches will have local bank loan officers in the lobby ready to give “instant” loans to church members during fund-raising drives!
November 8th, 2007 at 2:22 am
And probably at only one point higher than US Bank
-joe
November 10th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
whatHEsaid wrote: m now wondering if Rich Brott’s dismissal (if true) came about as a result of the churches’ nearly $360G overdraft in the years’ budget.
whatHEsaid: did city bible post the present amount of their debt in their last financial statement? if so, could you share with us what it is?
also, isn’t there anybody up there on the hill that has tried to tell frank that before he leverages the dome property to buy other campuses, he should get the church out of debt?
November 12th, 2007 at 9:41 am
David,
No. CBC did not list any amount of debt that the church owes.
As far as the second question you ask about ’someone telling Frank he needs to get the church out of debt before leveraging the domes to purchase other property’? I can’t imagine anyone left there would say something like that! They would be gone in short order.
November 12th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Apparently, everyone left around him (spf) are “in his pocket”!!?? $11+ million dollars and he is asking for more!!? Absolutely mind boggling…
January 14th, 2008 at 9:56 am
I called City Publishing just the other day and the gal that answered the phone told me that Rich Brott was still there. We don’t want to spread false rumors. I only used the statement about Rich Brott, made by someone else, as a jumping off point for my own comments. fyi.