“There’s nothing wrong with saying, ‘Let us...

“There’s nothing wrong with saying, ‘Let us pray,’ when a person comes to a clergyman or woman with a problem,” declared Rabbi Bernard M. Cohen. “But these days we’ve got to be able to offer more--even if it’s a referral to an agency or specialist.”

That’s why Cohen founded the Clergy Network, which is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

It had always bothered Cohen that priests, ministers, rabbis and other religious leaders tended to curtail their education after ordination, leaving themselves out of touch with developments in pastoral care.

So, with backing from a private health care organization, he came up with a way for religious leaders of all faiths to learn informally from experts about current issues while enjoying collegial fellowship.

Wednesday, to celebrate its first decade, the network--which Cohen proudly characterizes as “interfaith, interracial and intercultural”--will bestow its 1995 Humanitarian Award on retired wholesale produce merchant Mickey Weiss, who created a food distribution center that supplies unused produce, which would otherwise be thrown away, to nonprofit organizations that feed the homeless.

The luncheon, at the Warner Center Marriott Hotel in Woodland Hills, will feature Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich as guest speaker.

Hunger and homelessness--along with AIDS, unemployment, family problems, bioethics, health care and death--are typical of the issues taken up by the group, which meets over lunch each month at locations throughout Southern California.

Attendance at each event ranges from 60 to 100. There is no official membership, no obligation to show up regularly and no fee for the meal. At each luncheon, a speaker shares current information in his or her field of expertise, then leads a discussion.

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To encourage new relationships among participants, “I always announce before the luncheons that you can’t sit with the people you came with,” said Cohen. The result, he said, is that spiritual leaders of diverse congregations get to know one another and then can respond cooperatively when an issue crops up in their community.

Cohen says his organization’s goal is to help clergy and their congregants translate their respective creeds into deeds. He calls what has come out of the luncheons “the highest common denominator of unified service in true fellowship and brotherhood.”

That service was demonstrated recently in the northeast San Fernando Valley, where the Clergy Network encouraged all area congregations to solicit donations over the Mother’s Day weekend to support programs for seniors at a multipurpose center funded by the city of Los Angeles and the federal government, but hobbled by budget cuts.

“The clergy persuaded their communities that the center’s senior programs are an extension of their churches and synagogues,” Cohen said, “and some 20 thousand-odd dollars were raised.”

The rabbi’s commitment to continuing education comes in part from the benefits he has derived personally from higher learning. In addition to his rabbinical ordination, he has earned a doctorate in thanatology and one in clinical psychology. He recognizes, however, that overwhelming demands on their time and limited resources keep most clergy members from augmenting their formal education.

That makes it all the more gratifying, he says, when colleagues tell him the Clergy Network has made a difference in their ministries.

Energetic and driven--virtually glued to his pager--the 65-year-old Cohen says he will expand the California network in the next few years to Santa Maria and Hemet, then to Arizona and Texas.

The luncheons and administrative costs of the network are underwritten by Summit Care Corp., a private health and elder care company, which took over sponsorship of the growing network in 1992. Clergy Network luncheons are held regularly on the Westside, in the San Fernando Valley, South Bay, Orange County and Fresno.

The Orange County branch of the network will hold its awards luncheon Thursday. Reservations for the awards luncheons must be received by Monday. For information, (800) 707-2224.

IN MEMORIAM

Memorial services for Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi, Roshi, abbot of the Zen Center of Los Angeles and a seminal influence on the growth of Zen Buddhism in the United States, will be held at 8:30 a.m. every Sunday through July 2 at the Zen Center of Los Angeles. He died suddenly May 14 in Tokyo. The center is at 923 S. Normandie Ave. (213) 387-2351.

DATES

* The president of the Claremont School of Theology, Robert Edgar, will be the guest speaker at a Pentecost Christian Unity Worship Celebration at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, 15761 E. Colorado St., Long Beach. (310) 595-0268.

* First Baptist Church, Huntington Park, will celebrate 90 years of service with a 1:30 p.m. buffet luncheon Sunday, followed by an anniversary service at 3 p.m. The pastor, the Rev. Ralph Otte, will conduct the 11 a.m. worship service. 2662 Clarendon Ave. (213) 587-2265.

* St. James Armenian Church holds its 54th annual picnic from 12:30 to 7 p.m. Sunday at 4950 W. Slauson Ave., Los Angeles. (213) 295-4588.

* The Lutheran Church in the Foothills will host the Towne Singers’ spring concert Sunday at 7 p.m. Bobbi Vix conducts the 44 singers. Reception follows. Tickets are $3 at the door. 1700 Foothill Blvd. in La Canada Flintridge.

HONORS

* Rabbi Alexander M. Schindler, president for 23 years of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, will be honored for his leadership at a festive program and dessert reception at 7 p.m. Sunday at Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills. Schindler is retiring next year. General admission tickets are $36. 300 N. Clark Drive. (213) 653-9962.

* The Very Rev. James Thomas Adams, dean of St. Sophia Cathedral in Los Angeles, will be honored at a 6 p.m. retirement dinner next Saturday at the Bonaventure Hotel. The event coincides with Adams’ 40th anniversary as a priest in the Greek Orthodox Church. Dinner tickets are $50. (818) 576-7277.

BRIEFLY

* Operation StandDown for homeless veterans needs the following items from congregations and individuals by June 20: new underwear and socks; used pants and shirts, pressed and mended if necessary; blankets, towels, razors, toiletries and over-the-counter medications, and Bibles. Call Kim Diaz (310) 420-1481, Ext. 2810, or Gus Hein, (310) 432-1572.