Jim has been a Jewish believer in Yeshua (Jesus) since 1977.  He has served Congregation Shema Yisrael as Elder, Home Group Leader, Prayer Leader, Outreach Coordinator, Youth Group Leader, Special Events Coordinator and Head Usher. Jim has been the full-time Messianic rabbi of Shema Yisrael since 1996.

Before entering in full-time ministry, Jim worked for Xerox Corporation in Webster, N.Y., for 24 years as an optical engineer and engineering manager.  He holds more than 45 patents in the areas of copier imaging systems and laser printing.  Jim received a bachelor's degree in optical engineering from the University of Rochester in 1967 and a master's degree in physics from the University of Southern California in 1970.  He is ordained by the International Alliance of Messianic Congregations and Synagogues.  Jim and his wife, Diane, live in Brighton, and they have two grown children.

Jim's parents were atheists who taught him that God did not exist and that organized religion deceived and oppressed people. He began his search for spiritual reality in 1963 when he left his parents' home to go to college. His search took him into the world of mind-altering drugs and yoga meditation, which ended with a dramatic encounter with the Messiah who revealed Himself to Jim in the privacy of his bedroom without the assistance of any other person.