Five men were ordained this week as...

Five men were ordained this week as Buddhist ministers--a newly created level of service distinctive from the monastic life and the laity--by the multiethnic Buddhist Sangha Council of Southern California.

“This is a new thing for most of Buddhism,” said the Venerable Havanpola Ratanasara, president of the Los Angeles-based council.

The ordination ceremony Sunday--which included chanting in English, Chinese, Vietnamese and Pali--was held at the Rosemead Buddhist Monastery, where the five disciples had trained with the temple’s abbot, the Venerable Chao Chu.

However, with Tibetan, Sri Lankan, Thai, Chinese, Japanese and Korean monks taking part in the ceremony, the five new ministers were ordained into all three major divisions of Buddhism: Vajrayana (Tibetan), Terevada (South Asian) and Mahayana (Far Eastern), the abbot said.

“The new ministers will be able to assist monastics of all Buddhist organizations in areas of teaching, charitable work, funerals, community service [and] hospital visitations,” Chu said.

All five have completed university graduate studies. They are:

* Thomas Chang, who teaches at Rosemead Buddhist Monastery and is president of the Society for Buddhist Renaissance.

* Ed Little, editor of Hsi Lai News, a publication of the large Hsi Lai Chinese Buddhist Temple in Hacienda Heights.

* Wayne Huang, a lecturer at the Rosemead monastery and translator of Buddhist literature.

* Terry Kennard, who teaches Buddhism and leads religious services in Phoenix.

* Sam Haycraft, an attorney who is president of Buddha’s Light International Assn., English-speaking branch.

DATES

* Camarillo’s new, $5-million Padre Serra Catholic Church will be dedicated at 4 p.m. today by Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles. Designed by Albert C. Martin & Associates, the church at 5205 Upland Road--with connecting classrooms, offices, chapel, 75-foot bell tower and enclosed courtyard--has a main worship hall with seating around a central altar. The pastor is Father Liam Kidney.

* A weeklong retreat focused on women mystics Clare of Assisi, Catherine of Siena, Hildegard of Bingen and Julian of Norwich will begin Monday evening at the Mission San Luis Rey Retreat, 4050 Mission Ave., Oceanside. Franciscan Sister Mary Smith will lead the retreat, which costs $75 for a shared room and $195 for a private room. (619 757-369).

MEDIA PEOPLE

* Brown-robed and bearded Father Gregory Coiro, whose height and girth is suggestive of Robin Hood’s Friar Tuck, ended his duties Friday as the chief public relations spokesman for the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese. A member of the Capuchin Franciscan Friars, Coiro, 42, has held the position for 18 months. He will now teach at St. Francis High School in La Canada-Flintridge, replacing two fellow members of his religious order who are departing for other assignments. Coiro joined the archdiocese’s public relations staff before the 1987 papal visit. His replacement has not been named by the archdiocese.

* Jack Miles, a former Book Review editor and editorial writer for The Times, will start next week as director of the Humanities Center at the Claremont Graduate School. Miles will act as dean for graduate degree programs in seven fields, including religion, philosophy and literature, said a school spokesman. His widely acclaimed book, “God, a Biography,” is high on the Publishers Weekly religious bestseller list. Before his journalistic interlude, Miles was active in academic publishing and had earned a doctorate in Near Eastern languages at Harvard University.

* Arlene C. Landon, editor of the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council’s newsletter, was recently elected president of the interfaith Religious Public Relations Council of Southern California. Landon succeeds Gaye Smith, director of internal and ethnic communications for the Mormon Church in California. The chapter this year hosted the national body’s annual meeting at Universal City. The membership chairman is Jim Johnson at the United Methodist Center in Pasadena at 818 568-7329.

GATHERINGS

* The 125 congregations of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Southern California and Hawaii will hold a special assembly to endorse its new permanent leader, or regional minister, today at Church of the Valley in Van Nuys. The district board has selected the Rev. Don Shelton of Bakersfield to replace the Rev. John D. Wolfensberger, who has been acting regional minister for four years, but recently took a church post in San Marino. The Rev. Charles Malotte of North Hollywood, who retired as regional minister in 1991 after 17 years, will return on an interim basis until Shelton begins duties at the district offices in Pomona on Sept. 1.

* The largest Catholic-sponsored American Indian Powwow and celebration in the western states will be held next weekend at Loyola Marymount University. Hundreds of Indian dancers and more than 70 vendors will be featured between 11 a.m. and 10 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday. The sixth annual event honors Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha , a Mohawk Indian who is the only Native American being considered for sainthood by the Vatican. Admission and parking is free. (213 482-7615).

MERGER

* The 80-member English ministry of the Los Angeles Korean United Methodist Church and the 60-member Ascension Ministry, formerly a part of the Westwood United Methodist Church, will form an independent congregation today.

“It is believed this is the first time an English-speaking congregation will have . . . administrative and financial autonomy [from a Korean-speaking congregation],” said Ascension’s Tom Choi, who will become pastor of the merged congregation. “At Korean churches, Korean and English ministries usually have a parent-child relationship.”

The decision to merge came after Pastor K. Samuel Lee of the Los Angeles congregation was named associate dean of the Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. Services marking the change will be held at 12:30 p.m. today at the Los Angeles Korean United Methodist Church, 7400 Osage Blvd., in the Westchester area. (310 645-3698).

ACCREDITATION

* In the first-ever accrediting program organized by the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Los Angeles, 11 Jewish schools and religious education programs met the education standards required for accreditation last month. They are:

Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School, Northridge; Temple Aliyah Religious School, Woodland Hills; Bais Yaakov School for Girls, Los Angeles; B’nai Tikvah Nursery School and Kindergarten, Los Angeles; Temple Israel Religious School, Hollywood; Temple Judea Religious School, Tarzana; Temple Ner Maarav Religious School, Encino; Congregation Ner Tamid Preschool, Rancho Palos Verdes; Shomrei Torah Synagogue Early Childhood Department, West Hills; University Synagogue Religious School, Los Angeles, and Valley Beth Shalom Nursery School, Encino.

The bureau, which has 172 affiliated schools with 28,000 students, is an agency of the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles.

FINALLY

* The 1,400 people with Assemblies of God ministries of various kinds in Southern California knew the monthly tithes to the district headquarters in Irvine were raised in April. The typical amount now ranges between $125 to $150 a month.

But some ministers received tithe receipts in May that said they had given as much as $8,500 so far this year, said Larry Chapman, district secretary-treasurer.

District officials assured Assemblies ministers that their tithes had not been hiked that dramatically. The mistaken report resulted from a computer malfunction, Chapman said.

What about ministers who might hope--if only for a moment--that the huge amounts erroneously reported would allow them to take a large charitable deduction at income tax time? “Unfortunately for them, it won’t show up in the next receipts,” Chapman answered in a light vein. “The computer program has been fixed.”

Notices may be sent to Southern California File by mail, c/o John Dart, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, 91311, or by fax to Religion Editor, 213 237-4712. Items must be brief and arrive at least three weeks before the event. Include a phone number, date, time and address.