Interdenominational “as a place of worship for the summer community ” Union Chapel is listed in
the National Register of Historic Places
55 Narragansett Avenue, Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts
Organ Prelude Begins at 9:50 A.M.
Sunday Worship Begins at 10:00 A.M.
July 13, 2025
Reverend Brandon Thomas Crowley, PhD
55 Narragansett Avenue, Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts www.unionchapelmv.org
The Reverend Brandon Thomas Crowley, PhD, is a pastor, author, scholar, and public intellectual whose research explores Black religious thought, theology, ecclesiology, and social ethics from the late 19th through the early 21st centuries. Since 2009, he has served as Senior Pastor of the Historic Myrtle Baptist Church in Newton, Massachusetts, a congregation founded by formerly enslaved Africans during Reconstruction and widely known for its inclusive ministry and commitment to social justice. In addition to his pastoral leadership, Dr. Crowley has taught at Harvard University, Emory University, Boston University, the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, and other institutions. His debut book, Queering Black Churches: Dismantling Heteronormativity in African American Congregations, was published by Oxford University Press in 2024.
An ordained minister in the Progressive National Baptist Convention and licensed in the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., Dr. Crowley holds degrees from Morehouse College, Harvard University, and Boston University. His scholarly and professional engagements include membership in the Society for the Study of Black Religion, service on the Council of Religious Practitioners and Scholars at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., and editorial work with the Lexington Press Series on Approaches to Religion and Theology and The Global Journal of Black Sexuality and Gender Studies. He also serves as President of the Harvard Divinity School Alumni Council and is a member of the Greater Boston Salvation Army Advisory Board and the Community Benefits and Needs Assessment Committees at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.
Today’s floral arrangements on the altar are placed by ...
By Marilyn Jackson with love and gratitude for the existence of Union Chapel. -
By Paul Alexander and Evelyne Martial in honor of Julie Polley, Avarita L. Hanson, Peter Alexander, and the Myrtle Baptist Church of West Newton congregation. -
In loving memory of our parents, Bill and Susie Borden & Robert and Wylma Parker. You are missed!
To sponsor a Sunday Service in the Chapel, please visit www.unionchapelmv.org/sundaysponsor-request
Fugue in E flat Major
Johann Sebastian Bach
All People That on Earth Do Dwell
words: William Kethe
music: Louis Bourgeois (arr. J. S. Bach)
Trustee Sabrina Williams
“God of hope, we have sensed your spirit walking with us as we open a new door in our lives, felt your urging when we were reluctant to say yes to a new adventure. Come among us today. Open our eyes to truth wherever it may be found. Allow us to hear the siren song of knowledge and understanding.”
*HYMN #136
Holy, Holy, Holy! | NICEA
He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands
African American Spiritual (arr. Margaret Bonds) Ava Brown, soprano
PRAYER RESPONSE
O Thou That Hearest Prayer
J. Burton, Wm. Peek
OFFERTORY
The Penitent
Beardsley Van de Water
David Behnke, baritone
*DOXOLOGY
*Hymn #348
Softly and Tenderly | THOMPSON
SCRIPTURE
St. Luke 13:6-9
SPEAKER
Rev. Dr. Brandon Thomas Crowley “The Gracious Gardener”
*Hymn #728
Like a Mighty River Flowing | QUEM PASTORES
BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE:
Voluntary in E flat Major
John Zundel
Margaret Bonds’ powerful setting of He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands was commissioned by Leontyne Price and is featured on her landmark 1962 recording of spirituals, Swing
Low, Sweet Chariot. The Penitent, which tells the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15: 11-32), was composed by Beardsley Van de Water, a prominent 19th-century organist and church musician in New York City.
Ava Brown, soprano, is a 25 year-old opera singer who has performed all over the country. In 2022, Ava graduated with her BA in vocal performance from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and she earned her Master’s degree from USC’s Annenberg School in the spring of 2025. Now enjoying some time back home on the Vineyard, Ava continues to share her voice with the community she loves. She has led masterclasses for young performers at a conservatory in Los Angeles and has won multiple awards, including first place in the Schmidt Vocal Arts national competition. Ava has studied at several prestigious programs, including the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and the Boston Conservatory’s summer program. A lifelong summer resident of the Vineyard, she is thrilled to return once again to perform at Union Chapel.
David Behnke, baritone, is a graduate of the Master’s Degree Opera Program at Yale. He was a resident artist with the Tri Cities Opera Company and performed with music festivals across New England. After a career on Wall Street, he moved full time to Martha’s Vineyard in 2013. David has appeared with the Island Theater Workshop (Beast in Beauty and the Beast and Emile in South Pacific), has been an active recitalist performing opera, art song and Broadway, and has appeared as a frequent soloist with various Island organizations. He performs regularly with the Wicked Good Music Revue at the MV Playhouse. Most recently he was a featured soloist in Ariel Ramirez’s Misa Criolla with the Island Community Chorus.
June 29
Rev. Joanne Hus
United Methodist Church of Martha’s Vineyard
(Note, this is a combined service with United Methodist, held at The Tabernacle)
July 6
Honorable. Ayanna Pressley, U.S. Congresswoman
Massachusetts's 7th congressional district
July 13
Rev. Dr. Brandon Thomas Crowley
Myrtle Baptist Church, West Newton, Massachusetts
July 20
Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie
President and General Secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ
July 27
Rev. Frederick Haynes III
Friendship-West Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas
August 3
Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, III
Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago, Illinois
August 10
Bishop Donald Hilliard
Cathedral International, Perth Amoy, New Jersey
August 17
Rev. Dante Quick, Ph.D.
First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, Somerset, New Jersey
Aug 24
Rev. Dana Allen Walsh
South Church, Andover, Massachusetts
August 31
Rev. Dr. Aliya Browne Union Chapel, Martha’s Vineyard
Rev. Dr. Aliya F. Browne, President
Heidi Bryan, Vice President
Stephanie Parker, Secretary
Kamla Branche, Treasurer
Rachelle Browne, Brenda Bryan, Cindy Carter, MD, Alvin R Johnson, Louise Johnson, Robert Jennings, Sexton, Kathleen McGhee-Anderson, Ginny
McIntosh, Roger Morris, Kevin Myatt, Andrew Skeen, Ann Stewart, Ed Trayes, Diane Welburn, Lois Jean White, Sabrina Williams
Trustees Emeriti:
William Adams, Joann Kidd, Anne H. Parsons, Trustee Preident Emeritus Richard Taylor