While born in the USA, Sid Nelson grew up in Saskatchewan where his father was a minister. In 1952, Sid graduated from the Lutheran Seminary in Saskatoon, when he started serving the parish of Frontier, Saskatchewan. In 1954, Sid met Elaine Iversen who was music director of a bible camp in the USA. Elaine took her music degree at Concordia University at Moorhead, Minnesota. Sid was of Norwegian descent while Elaine was of Danish descent.
In 1955 the couple was married and they had 6 children, Riva, Santhy, Dean, Maren, Kirsti and Erik.
From 1956 Sid served as a mission developer in Lethbridge, Alberta and founded the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd. Then in 1960 they served the Joplin Parish in Montana. Subsequently Sid worked for the Divisions of Youth and Parish Education for the American Lutheran Church for the Canadian Region, with the regional office located in Saskatoon. While there he also earned a Bachelor's degree from the University of Saskatchewan and a Master of Divinity from the Lutheran Seminary in Saskatoon.
In 1968 Sid and his family accepted a call to serve St. Ansgar's church in Montreal. The first service was on July 28, 1968. It wasn't long before Elaine was filling in as organist, gradually playing regularly. She also started two choirs. Sometimes she accompanied the choir while someone else directed the choir. While in Montreal, Sid received an M.A. degree from McGill University, on June 11, 197l.
In the time Sid served at St. Ansgar's, he served two four year terms on the national council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada. He also also served as conference president of the Eastern conference of the ELCC. Pastor Sid was later to serve on the board of Trustees of the ELCC and was co-signer of the financial transfer to the ELCIC. From 1969-1981 he was also on the Religious Advisory council to the CBC Montreal. Founding member of the Inter Faith Task Force for Soviet Jewry and was given recognition by the Canadian Jewish Congress.
In those years Pastor Sid was also a member of the Danish (Business Men's) Club and a member of the Danish Canadian Society. The six Nelson children learned a lot about their Scandinavian roots, mostly from the Danes at St. Ansgar's, while they were here. Sid and Elaine's daughter, Maren, who earned her Bachelor's degree in Music from McGill University, stayed in Montreal for many years after her parents moved on and enriched the services with her music.
On the Nelsons' last Sunday at St. Ansgar, on June 28, 1981 we burned the mortgage.
When Sid and Elaine Nelson left Montreal with their youngest son, Sid accepted the call to Grace Lutheran Church in Medicine Hat, Alberta. He was later called to begin a new mission in Medicine Hat, and the mission was called Unity Lutheran Church.
While they are now semi-retired, they still live in Medicine Hat. Their eldest daughter, Riva, became a Lutheran minister, the fourth-generation of Nelsons to enter the ministry. Sid and Elaine are grandparents many times over and enjoy travelling and visiting their far-flung children.
At the founding convention of the Synod of Alberta of the ELCIC pastor Sid was elected to the synod council and served two four year terms. On April 19, 1999 he received the Distinguished Service Award from the Alberta Pastoral Care Association "In Recognition of Distinguished Service in Pastoral Care in Alberta"