John Mark Willingham was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. His family moved to Georgia when he was four years old and lived there through-out his school years. The son of a Presbyterian minister, he is the middle of five children.
Following high school, John attended a Presbyterian institution, Davidson College, located in Davidson, North Carolina, where in 1980 he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics. For the next three years, John worked as a manager for the telephone company now known as Bell South. While in their employ, John felt a strong calling to serve the Lord as a minister of the Word and Sacrament, and entered Princeton Theological Seminary where he earned a Master of Divinity degree in 1987 with a concentration in preaching.
He served the First Presbyterian Church of Mount Sterling. Kentucky for five years, until accepting a call to become the pastor of the Matthews Presbyterian Church in Matthews, North Carolina, where he served for nearly eleven years. John earned his Doctor of Ministry degree from Chicago's McCormick Theological Seminary in 1995 with a concentration in church re-development.
In addition to his work in the congregations served, John has been active beyond church walls He helped organize a Habitat for Humanity affiliate in Kentucky and participated in the Superintendent's Interfaith Advisory Committee in Charlotte. He has served as a commissioner to Synod and General Assembly meetings and moderator of the Presbytery of Charlotte.
John's wife, Lori, is a registered nurse and they have two children, Michael and Emsley.