The Reverend Dr. Rubin Tendai was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The family attended Holy Temple Church of God in Christ where he first came to know the Lord. He graduated from Pierce College and Temple University, both located in Philadelphia.  From there he went on to Washington, D.C., where he earned a Master of Divinity Degree from the Howard University School of Divinity. Following his ordination by the Potomac Association, Central Atlantic Conference United Church of Christ he was installed as Associate Minister of Peoples Congregational Church in Washington, D.C.  In 1983 Dr. Tendai moved to Philadelphia and served as Senior Minister of Wynnfield United Church of Christ.  In 1985 Dr. Tendai accepted the position of Senior Minister of Faith Congregational United Church of Christ in Hartford, Connecticut.  While there he became Chaplain for the Hartford Fire Department, as well as a chaplain in the United States Air Force.

      In 1990 he accepted a position on the National Staff of the United Church of Christ as Associate for Communications for Office For Church in Society and a writer for the Office of Communication. Working out of the Methodist Building on Capitol Hill he was responsible for ensuring that members of Congress knew positions held by the United Church of Christ on policy issues both foreign and domestic. During this time, he also served as the part-time Interim Senior Minister at Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C.

   Desiring to return to a local church pastorate, in 1994 he accepted the call as Senior Minister of Grace Congregational Church of Harlem in New York City.  While there he earned a Master of Sacred Theology Degree from Union Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry Degree from New York Theological Seminary. After serving at Grace Church for twelve years Dr. Tendai retired to attend the Interim Ministry Network School for Intentional Interim Ministry. That same year Dr. Tendai became Interim Senior Minister at Peoples Congregational Church in Washington, D.C. After the arrival of the settled minister at Peoples Church, Dr. Tendai became Interim Senior Minister at Lincoln Temple Congregational Church in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Tendai is married to Alana Gayle-Tendai. He is a father and grandfather. He is author of the book, “Hard Climb Up The Ladder”, the story of the first black fire chief of a major New England City. One of his great joys in ministry was building houses in South Africa with President Jimmy Carter  and Habitat For Humanity. He is a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity.