

Breaking Barriers
Andrew Hopper and Bobby Herrington
We’re here to help pastors and churches grow so that they can go. Churches can grow without going, but they can’t go without growing. Do you ever feel like church growth and sending is an uphill battle? You’re not alone, many leaders face common barriers that hinder mission success. At Breaking Barriers, we understand these challenges because we’ve been there. Now, we are on a mission to guide churches and leaders like you with Biblical strategies to help your church grow to go. Join Pastors Andrew Hopper and Bobby Herrington from Mercy Hill Church in Greensboro, NC.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 30, 2024 • 44min
S1E031 - Q&A 2024 Breaking Barriers Conference
Live from the 2024 Breaking Barriers Conference, we took questions from conference attendees who had questions about the talks. In this episode, Pastor Andrew, Pastor Bobby, and Pastor Jonathan fielded questions about pragmatism, preaching, starting multiple services, serving engagement, and many more! This episode gives you a taste of what the Breaking Barriers Conference and ministry is all about!
Website: https://breakinggrowthbarriers.com
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/breakinggrowthbarriers
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/breakinggrowthbarriers
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breakinggrowthbarriers

Sep 23, 2024 • 37min
S1E30 - 5 Limiting Beliefs That Halt Growth and Multiplication
Pastor Bobby and Pastor Jonathan discuss some limiting beliefs that prevent churches and leaders from growing and ultimately multiplying.

Sep 16, 2024 • 44min
S1E029 - The Power, Paradigm, and Practice of Vision
The term vision is thrown around alot both in the church world, and in leadership in general, but how exactly do you use it? We've talked about what vision is and how to craft it, but this episode is all about how you use vision: the power of it, what paradigm we use at Mercy Hill, and in practice - how do you actually implement a vision?
Website: https://breakinggrowthbarriers.com
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/breakinggrowthbarriers
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/breakinggrowthbarriers
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breakinggrowthbarriers

Sep 9, 2024 • 43min
S1E028 - Todd Unzicker | Executive Director-Treasurer of NC Baptist
Todd Unzicker, the Executive Director-Treasurer of NC Baptist, joins Pastor Andrew to discuss Breaking Barriers, church growth, and going on mission.
Conference: https://breakinggrowthbarriers.com/conference
Website: https://breakinggrowthbarriers.com
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/breakinggrowthbarriers
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/breakinggrowthbarriers
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breakinggrowthbarriers

Sep 2, 2024 • 33min
S1E027 - Developing Preachers in Your Church: Sermon Planning Part 2
In Episode 26, we talked about the weekly meeting that we have each week at Mercy Hill called "Sermon Planning" where that community helps to make the sermon better. In this episode, we're talking about the flip side of that coin and how Sermon Planning helps to develop pastors in your church!
Conference: https://breakinggrowthbarriers.com/conference
Website: https://breakinggrowthbarriers.com
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/breakinggrowthbarriers
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/breakinggrowthbarriers
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breakinggrowthbarriers
*We typically release our podcasts as video podcasts, but due to some technical failures, Episodes 26 and 27 will be audio-only. We look forward to releasing video episodes again starting with Episode 28.

Aug 26, 2024 • 28min
S1E026 - Making Your Sermon Better In Community: Sermon Planning
Apart from good theology, this one thing will make your sermons better. Pastor Andrew and Pastor Jonathan dive into this critical meeting called "Sermon Planning," which we have each week at Mercy Hill. Consider adding this meeting to your sermon-prep arsenal each week.
Conference: https://breakinggrowthbarriers.com/conference
Website: https://breakinggrowthbarriers.com
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/breakinggrowthbarriers
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/breakinggrowthbarriers
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breakinggrowthbarriers
*We typically release our podcasts as video podcasts, but due to some technical failures, Episodes 26 and 27 will be audio-only. We look forward to releasing video episodes again starting with Episode 28.

Aug 19, 2024 • 51min
S1E025 - Turning First-Time Guests Into Disciples
We did a Zoom seminar a while back where we discussed first-time guests and how to turn them into second-time guests and, eventually, disciples. People often get confused around the lead and lag measures when it comes to first-time guests because they feel like it is 'icky'. We want to see baptisms, people sent out, people hearing the gospel for the first time, and lives being changed. The problem is that the lead measures that lead to those outcomes hinge on people coming to the church for the first time! In this podcast, Pastor Andrew and Pastor Bobby dive into what that looks like at Mercy Hill and how people move through our flywheel of growth.
Conference: https://breakinggrowthbarriers.com/conference
Website: https://breakinggrowthbarriers.com
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/breakinggrowthbarriers
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/breakinggrowthbarriers
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breakinggrowthbarriers

Aug 12, 2024 • 38min
S1E024 - "Spontaneous" Baptisms - The Playbook (Part 2)
If you haven't listened to Part 1 (Are "Spontaneous" Baptisms Biblical?), give that a listen, where Andrew lays out the Biblical lineage of people getting saved in the book of Acts. This episode is all about the practical side. The nuts and bolts on how to pull off same-day baptisms.
Join us at the Breaking Barriers Conference on September 17+18, where we'll be diving into the practical nuts and bolts of ministry, sending, and church growth. Find out more and register today: https://breakinggrowthbarriers.com/conference
Website: https://breakinggrowthbarriers.com
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/breakinggrowthbarriers
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/breakinggrowthbarriers
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breakinggrowthbarriers

Aug 5, 2024 • 27min
S1E023 - Are "Spontaneous" Baptisms Biblical? (Part 1)
Should you require a 6 month waiting period for someone to get Baptized? A Baptism class? Is Baptism a proof of commitment or a promise of commitment? Well, what does the Biblical record say? What does the book of Acts look like in terms of people getting baptized? In this episode, Pastor Andrew looks at all of the accounts of baptism in the book of Acts for what the Scriptural record looks like.
Join us at the Breaking Barriers Conference on September 17+18 where we'll be diving in to the practical nuts an bolts of ministry, sending, and church growth. Find out more and register today: https://breakinggrowthbarriers.com/conference
Website: https://breakinggrowthbarriers.com
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/breakinggrowthbarriers
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/breakinggrowthbarriers
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breakinggrowthbarriers

Jul 29, 2024 • 41min
S1E022 - 5 Steps to Reverse Engineer Your Vision Into Goals
Some churches may be great at execution but not so great at vision, while others are super visionary, but they struggle with the day-to-day execution of that vision. We will all probably lean one way or the other, but we should always be striving to be both!
Conference: https://breakinggrowthbarriers.com/conference
Website: https://breakinggrowthbarriers.com
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/breakinggrowthbarriers
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/breakinggrowthbarriers
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breakinggrowthbarriers