About Pastor James L. Nelson
Pastor Nelson was brought to saving faith in the fall of 1988. In March of 1991, he was called into the ministry. He was a member of the Born Again Evangelistic Ministries (located in Mattapan, MA) for 19 years, serving under the ministry of Bishop Hessie L. Harris.
Pastor Nelson has served in multiple capacities of ministry throughout the years. These include evangelism, outreach, the co-founding of two urban missions, and the Dimock Detox Rehab. He also had the distinct honor of being part of a church plant in New London, CT.
From 2007 to 2009, Pastor Nelson was a member of Mount Olive Kingdom Builders Worship Center located in Dorchester, MA. In August of 2009, he was ordained by Bishop Robert C. Perry. In addition, he was installed as the founder and senior pastor of Equipping the Saints Ministries in Hyde Park, MA.
Currently, Pastor Nelson is pursuing Biblical Studies at Gordon-Conwell’s Center for Urban Ministerial Education (CUME). He is happily married to Denise R. Nelson, his wife of 29 years. They are the proud parents of their only son.
History of Our Church
Prior to our official launch, Pastor Nelson held a weekly Bible class in his home. For two years, he taught systematically through the Bible. His goal was and is to teach people the basics of the Bible, to increase biblical literacy, and to instruct believers in theology.
ESTM was founded in September of 2009. Our inaugural worship service was held on the sixth of that month at Boston Trinity Academy.
In the fall of 2014, we hosted our first conference named the Recover Fall Conference. The theme of the conference was “Recovering the Biblical Gospel.” The following year, we hosted our second conference that had another important theme—“Recovering Holy Scripture.”
Both conferences were a rich blessing to all that attended. The attendees were from a variety of churches, denominations, and traditions from around the city. And the pastors that served as the key note speakers were also from around the city - from local churches of various denominations and traditions. All of this, and the substance of the messages made both conferences a rich blessing to all.
Since the founding of ETSM, Pastor Nelson has focused on fulfilling the church’s mission, which is to equip believers in the Christian faith. This comprises orthodox theology, sound doctrine, and right practice.
This equipping includes grounding believers in “the faith” – which is the body of doctrinal truth entrusted to the Church (Jude 3); these are the core, essential, non-negotiable beliefs and teachings of the Church.
It also includes teaching and training believers to both defend and make a case for the faith - which is the science apologetics and polemics (1 Peter 3:15). Paul used these methods throughout his apostolic ministry, both in talking to the Jews and the Athenians (Acts 17).