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Orange County Episcopalians are leading the Diocese of Los Angeles in welcoming the church-wide 76th General Convention, and the Triennial Meeting of the Episcopal Church Women, to Anaheim July 8-17.

Local hospitality and service projects – including youth-led, multi-site construction of Habitat for Humanity homes for deserving families – are planned to support the Convention's theme of ubuntu, a Zulu word meaning "I am because you are."

Spiritual dimensions of ubuntu are a longtime teaching focus of South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who will be honored with a multi-media tribute offered in the Diocesan Hospitality Center located in the Convention Exhibit Hall.

The Diocesan Hospitality Center will also be the point of distribution for tickets, free of charge, to the July 15 "L.A. Night" program titled "Genesis: From Breath to Wonder," an experience of music, light-painting and spoken word presented in the Anaheim Arena by the Emerging Church community of the Diocese of Los Angeles. Emerging Church leader Brian McLaren, author of Everything Must Change, is among featured presenters.

Los Angeles Bishop J. Jon Bruno sees the meeting of the General Convention – the Episcopal Church's chief governing body – as an opportunity to emphasize "faithful and creative ways for living in these times of unprecedented change."

To help this effort, "the best our diocese has to offer" will be accessible to Convention participants, and highlighted at the Diocesan Hospitality Center, Bruno said.

The Hospitality Center will feature daily 1 p.m. "L.A.MidDay" informal talks with experts in economic development, refugee resettlement, interfaith partnerships, and other mission areas.

Among other hospitality offerings is "L.A. Jazz: Prayers Now & Then," an evening program featuring the music of Vince Guaraldi and prayers read by Malcolm Boyd. Tickets, limited to 200, are $25 each for the event set for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 14, at the Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney. Tickets must be reserved in advance by writing to lajazz@ladiocese.org.

"Faith & Our Future" is the current mission theme of the six-county Diocese of Los Angeles, where 70,000 Episcopalians worship at some 150 church sites, ministering in at least eight languages. Greater Los Angeles is at the heart of the nation’s second most populous region, and the Diocese includes all of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, and part of Riverside County. Cost to attend the convention is $60.00 or $15 per day. Parking costs are $10.00.