This Sunday, August 14, is Founders Sunday at the Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs. As a part of this celebration, the Union Chapel is honored to have the Rev. Dean K. Denniston Jr. as its guest preacher. Born in Boston, and raised in Boston andon the Vineyard, Mr. Denniston is the grandson of the Rev. Oscar E. Denniston, who in 1907 founded Bradley Memorial Church, the Island’s first African American church.

Mr. Denniston is the former director of civil rights and equal opportunity for the Massachusetts executive office of health and human services. He has an extensive history in public sector human resource management, including disability and aging anti-discrimination and accommodation related concerns.

Mr. Denniston currently serves as senior warden at Boston’s historic King’s Chapel where he is an occasional guest minister. He also oversees the church’s various community outreach programs and activities. Mr. Denniston received a BA from Northeastern University and an MDiv from the Yale Divinity School. He is the proud father of a daughter, Mallory. He is also a talented and creative blues musician.

The Union Chapel is a nondenominational church and is located at the intersection of Circuit, Kennebec and Narragansett avenues. The organ prelude by Garrett Brown begins at 9:40 a.m. and the service begins at 10 a.m.