Jim Tate grew up on a small farm near Atlanta, Georgia. As a young man he was active in 4-H and was a National winner in one of his 4-H projects. He received his Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree from Georgia Tech. Jim and his wife, Sharon, moved to the Washington D.C. area for Jim to attend law school at George Washington University at night while working for DuPont in the patent division of its legal department. They settled first in Virginia, and later in Maryland. During the Vietnam War, Jim served with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam. He has been a Federal Prosecutor and was twice elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. In 1976 Jim won the Republican nomination to represent Virginia’s Eight District in the United StatesCongress. After failing to win the general election, Jim began an investigation of what was then commonly called the Mormon Church. Jim and Sharon were baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1978, when their daughters, Virginia and Devon, were four years old. They were called by President Boyd K.Packer of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to serve for three years in the Alabama Birmingham Mission, where Jim presided as Mission President. After Jim and Sharon returned from their mission in Alabama, Jim returned to the practice of law. He is a partner in the Vienna, Virginia, firm of Tate Bywater. After returning from Alabama, Jim was called by Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles to serve on the Church Religious Freedom Committee with former Utah Governor Mike Leavitt as Chair. Jim is currently one of the representatives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Faith Leaders’ Group of the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington.