Elder Mary S. Nisbett
Elder Mary Nisbett is the fourth of seven children born to the late Lozell and Jessie Mae Styles. She was born in Greensboro, Georgia and her family moved to Rockaway Beach, New York when she was a child. She is married to Pastor Anthony A. Nisbett and is the proud mother of one son, Aaron, II.
She attended elementary, junior high and senior high school in Rockaway Beach. She is a graduate of Bronx Community College with an Associate of Arts Degree in Secretarial Science and Queens College where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology and a Master of Science Degree in Counselor Education, with Honors. After being employed with the New York City Department of Education for almost 31 years, she retired in July, 2008, from her position as a Guidance Counselor.
Elder Nisbett began receiving her initial religious instruction as a child by attending Sunday School at the St. John Baptist Church in Rockaway Beach and subsequently at the Macedonia Baptist Church also in Rockaway Beach under the leadership of the late Rev. Samuel L. Hunt and the late Rev. Dr. Julius Miller. She accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior at the age of 13 and was baptized on an Easter Sunday. She "grew up" in Macedonia where she served in many capacities over the years and served there until January, 1995, when she joined the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, Rockaway Beach, with her husband to work with the newly elected pastor, Reverend Larry L. Shell, Sr. She served there in several capacities until her husband was called to pastor the Greater Jerusalem Baptist Church in Brooklyn, in April, 2006.
She was consecrated a Deaconess on March 10, 1991, at Macedonia; and after yielding to the call to preach "The Gospel", she was licensed by New Hope on February 14, 1999. She was ordained to the gospel ministry on November 3, 2007, by Greater Jerusalem and installed as the Assistant Pastor on December 10, 2016. She also serves as the Church Office Administrator and overseer of the Sunday School Ministry.
Elder Nisbett loves to teach "The Word". Her formal religious studies include having received an Associate of Biblical Studies Degree and completed a two-year certificate program, "2lst Century Women in Ministry" at the Bethel Bible Institute, Jamaica. She has completed a Chaplaincy Course at the New Greater Bethel Bible Institute, Jamaica. She also completed a course, "Critical Incident Stress Management: Individual Crisis Intervention and Peer Support" conducted by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF). She received training in the "Fundamentals of Biblical Counseling" from the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors (NANC). She is currently enrolled in Trinity College of the Bible & Theological Seminary, with aspirations of earning a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Biblical Counseling.
Elder Nisbett was the Co-Founder and President of "Women of Destiny", a women's ministry in her community which was organized in September, 2000. It’s objective was to empower women for purpose by promoting spiritual growth through studying God's Word and, most importantly, applying it's principles and mandates to everyday life.
Elder Nisbett truly loves the Lord with her heart, soul, mind and strength and it is evident in her service and her praise and worship of the Lord. Her "life" scripture is Proverbs 3, verses 5 and 6: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths" and her favorite hymn is "I Am Thine, O Lord."
