Ministry Staff - Good Shepherd

Pastoral Staff

Pastor Jeff Nellermoe
Pastor Jeff and his wife, Mim, have two children, Jonathan and Rebekah. They came to Good Shepherd in May, 1993. Pastor Jeff graduated with a B.A. degree, summa cum laude, from Texas Lutheran College (Seguin, TX), and a M. Divinity, honors, from Luther Seminary (St. Paul, MN). He is currently working on his Ph.D. dissertation from the University of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT) in Integrated Marketing Communication.
Before coming to Good Shepherd, Pastor Jeff served five years as Associate Pastor at Excelsior Covenant Church in Excelsior, Minnesota.
His recreational pursuits include motorcycles, horses, skiing, archery, golf, and biking. He is an avid fan of ReAL Salt Lake (Major League Soccer). Aside from sports, he loves to play guitar and sing, watch movies, and read good fiction novels.
Mim, his wife, graduated with a B.A. degree, summa cum laude, from Texas Lutheran College, and a M.A. degree from Augustana Lutheran College (Sioux Falls, SD) in Education. She coaches and teaches at Juan Diego Catholic High School. Mim loves all sports and animals. She grew up in Salt Lake City, while her father, Jerry Trelstad, served Good Shepherd as pastor from 1969 - 1982.
Pastor Jeff's vision for Good Shepherd to become a living Mission Training Center that equips and sends its members forth as missionaries for Christ into their communities and world. Both Pastor Jeff and Mim have served in several local and global missions, with a special heart for ministry to children.

Pastor James Wakefield (currently on Sabbatical until March 14, 2012)
James was raised in an LDS family in Utah and Anaheim, California. He recognized the Lordship of Jesus Christ as an undergraduate student at the University of Southern California. He has degrees in World Religion, Psychology, Divinity, and a PhD in theology from Marquette University. He has served churches and campus ministries in Colorado, Minnesota, and Utah.

He helped start Salt Lake Theological Seminary in 1984 while serving as a church planter for a Baptist congregation in West Jordan. He served as Associate Professor of Biblical and Spiritual Theology for many years. James has authored two books, including Sacred Listening: Discovering the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola (Baker, 2006). He is currently working on a book about God’s history of loving this world.

James joined our staff in 2005. He shares pulpit duties with pastors Jeff and Christine. His favorite things at church are worship, teaching, mentoring young adults, and short-term mission trips. James has three adult children and four beautiful grandchildren. After a divorce, James raised his three teenagers as a single parent. His experience of family life and the challenges that come with divorce allow him deep compassion as he counsels and teaches in our congregation. James has many nonacademic interests. His most unusual passion is ballroom dancing. He has taught basic standard and Latin ballroom classes. He also enjoys skiing, tennis, fishing, and hiking in the Wasatch mountains.

Pastor Christine Nelson
Christine was raised in Salt Lake City and attended the LDS church as a child. She came to know Christ as her Lord and Savior when she heard the Gospel story for the first time at age 25. Education has been a lifelong goal for her graduating with a Bachelor of Science from Westminster University in Salt Lake in 1978. In 1999 she earned a Diploma in Christian Studies from Regent College, Vancouver, BC. In 2000 she was the first graduate student at Salt Lake Theological Seminary with a Masters in Christian Studies and in 2005 she graduated with a Master of Divinity Degree.

Christine has been active in leadership and speaking positions with Christian Women’s Club, Child Evangelism Fellowship, Bible Study Fellowship, Prayer Watch International, and in diverse positions in several churches in UT, ID, OR and WA. She joined Good Shepherd’s staff in 2005 with Pastor James in a part time position that led to full time after five years. Christine is now a full time pastor with Pastors Jeff and James.

She is married to Bob and they have a 25 year old son, Aaron. She raised two daughters before marrying Bob and was a single mom for a number of years. Her daughters are Victoria and Shellie. Shellie and her husband Larry are parents to Evan and Makena, Bob and Christine’s precious grandchildren who she loves to ski with. Christine’s passion is at Good Shepherd is Member Care and Prayer along with preaching, counseling and all that comes with serving as Pastor.

Ministry Staff