New York, NY - The Thirty-Sixth Biennial Clergy-Laity Congress and National Philoptochos Convention of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America will convene in Los Angeles, CA from June 30th to July 4th, 2002. The Diocese of San Francisco will host the Congress which will be headquartered at the Bonaventure Hotel.

His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, spiritual leader of 1.5 million Greek Orthodox faithful in America, will preside at the Congress, which is expected to attract 3,000 total participants including some 1,500 registered delegates from more than 550 parishes.

"Offering Orthodoxy to 21st Century America" is the theme of the Congress, inspired from the biblical text:"Jesus said to them: "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you"" (John 20:21).

The Clergy-Laity Congress is convened biennially and presided over by the Archbishop. It is concerned with all matters, other than doctrinal or canonical, affecting the life, growth and unity of the Church, her institutions, her finances, her administration, educational and philanthropic concerns and her growing role in the religious life of the Nation.