Union Chapel opens season on Sunday

Historic Union Chapel will celebrate the 147th anniversary of the Chapel and Shelter Island Heights at a homecoming service this Sunday, June 16 at 10:30 a.m.  

The Chapel bell will toll for members of the Shelter Island Heights community and Chapel trustees who passed away during the last year:

Margaret Carroll

Jay E. Helme

James McCarthy

John Gregory Mohr

Kathleen O’Connell

Elizabeth O. Ruby

Edwin Sherman Payne

Martha Williams

Tim Purtell, chair of the Shelter Island Heights Property Owners Corporation, will read the names.

Union Chapel will welcome The Reverend Deacon Robert J.A. Zito, J.D. His sermon is titled, “Why Are You Here?”

Reverend Zito was ordained in 2001 and served at Church of the Incarnation and Trinity Church Wall Street in Manhattan. While at Trinity Wall Street, he originated an experiential discussion group titled The Broad Way, using the Eucharist Lectionary for its source material. This group continues today. 

Reverend Zito currently serves at Christ the King in Stone Ridge, New York. He is the Canon (Title IV) Church Attorney for the Episcopal Diocese of New York and served on various diocesan committees over the years. He also served as chaplain for the Shelter Island Yacht Club, the 9th New York Field Artillery (VCA of 1790) and the Holland Lodge No. 8 F&AM, in which he also served as master. He was a board member of our Chapel, Brooklyn Federal Savings Bank, and president and board member of the Holland Lodge Foundation.

In 2016, Reverend Zito was invested with the rank of Knight of Justice of The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, under HM Elizabeth II. He currently serves as Chapter Member of the Priory of the United States and New York Regional Chair. Queen Elizabeth also granted Bob armorial bearings (a coat of arms).

In his secular life, Reverend Zito practiced law for over three decades, handling a variety of business, corporate and securities matters around the world, most recently as a partner with the Wall Street law firm of Carter Ledyard & Milburn, LLP.  He is a graduate of Tulane University and New York Law School. 

He lives in New Paltz, New York with his wife, Dana Sabin Cole, and their two dogs, Clancy and Chowder. He loves to cook and play the guitar. He and his wife enjoy hiking, biking, birding, tennis, golf, sailing, reading and doing charitable work.  

Music for the service will be performed by guest artists Joan Osborne, organist, and Sara Mundy, contralto. Ms. Mundy was born during Hurricane Bob and grew up on Shelter Island. She studied musical theater in New York City, and toured with her band “Starlight Girls.” She returned to the island where she performs at local venues as a solo artist and as a duo, “Island Belles,” with Isabel Alvarez.

A reception in the Grove will follow the service. All are welcome.  

— Submitted by Union Chapel