PHOTO COURTESY OF UNION CHAPEL | The Reverend Deacon Robert J.A. Zito

Nautical flags and vintage burgees will fly from the rafters of the historic Union Chapel in the Grove as a procession of officers and members of the Shelter Island Yacht Club, celebrating its 125th year, join the chapel this Sunday, July 24, at 10:30 a.m. for the annual combined service of interdenominational worship. Commodore Stephen C. Schram and other flag officers of the club will participate in the memorial service, which honors members who have died during the past year. All are welcome at a reception in the grove hosted by the Yacht Club immediately following the service.

The Reverend Deacon Robert J.A. Zito, J.D., chapel trustee and Chaplain of the Shelter Island Yacht Club, will preach.  Reverend Zito has two professions. He is an attorney and partner at the Wall Street law firm of Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP and the Parish Deacon of Trinity Church in lower Manhattan.

In additional to his liturgical and pastoral duties, he leads a Bible study group called The Broad Way. Deacon Zito is the canon church attorney for the Episcopal Diocese of New York and as such investigates and prosecutes cases of clergy misconduct before the diocesan Ecclesiastical Trial Court.

Deacon Zito grew up in Huntington, Long Island. He graduated from Tulane University in 1978 with a B.A. degree in English literature and from New York Law School in 1981 with a J.D. degree. He was ordained in 2001 at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.

Deacon Zito is listed in Marquis’ “Who’s Who in the World,” “Who’s Who in America” and “Who’s Who in American Law.” He is a commander in the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, under the charge of HRH Queen Elizabeth II, and serves as chair of the New York Regional Committee. He is also a Knight of the Order of Merit of the House of Savoy.
Deacon Zito served for 10 years in the New York Guard, Judge Advocate General’s Corps, and retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Reverend Zito is married to Dana Sabin Cole, formerly a trustee and vice president secretary of the Church Club of New York and an alumna and trustee of the Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Massachusetts. They are both avid sailors and live aboard their sloop, West Highlander, in Dering Harbor during summer weekends with their West Highland white terrier, Whisky.

Music on Sunday will be by Telemann, Bach and Purcell, played by Linda Betjeman, chapel organist, and Nelson Bogart, trumpet soloist. Mr. Bogart is currently in his fourth career as full-time music composer. Beginning as a trumpet and guitar player, he has been a studio musician, and then a lawyer and professor. He can be heard locally with the duo “Bogart and Broder.”