If elected president of the 2024 N.C. Baptist pastors’ conference, Andrew Hopper said he hopes to see “the conference serve the churches in our state by equipping them for growth and multiplication.”
Andrew Hopper, lead pastor of Mercy Hill Church in Greensboro, N.C., will be nominated for president of the 2024 N.C. Baptist pastors’ conference.
Jerry Lewis, lead pastor of Grace Community Church in Marion, N.C., plans to make the nomination during this year’s conference, which is scheduled for Nov. 6-7 at the Joseph S. Koury Convention Center in Greensboro, N.C. The event precedes the annual meeting of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.
“It is my privilege to nominate Andrew Hopper to serve as the Pastors’ Conference president for 2024,” Lewis wrote in an email to the Biblical Recorder. “Andrew is a gifted, expository preacher. However, his preaching is not an end, but the means by which he challenges his congregation to go to the nations. Andrew is a pastor’s pastor, who is open-handed with other pastors and churches. Mercy Hill has excelled in sending people to the mission field, planting churches, and investing in and partnering with other churches.”
Hopper is the second announced candidate for 2024 pastors’ conference president. Matt Ledbetter, pastor of Creeksville Baptist Church in Conway, N.C., was announced as a candidate late last month. Ledbetter is currently serving as vice president for the 2023 pastors’ conference.
On Oct. 12, Jesse Watkins, pastor of Friendship Southern Baptist Church in Concord, N.C., was announced as a candidate for vice president of the 2024 pastors’ conference.
Hopper planted Mercy Hill Church in 2012 as a church plant from The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, N.C. Hopper spent five years on staff at The Summit in a variety of roles, which included a stint as a campus pastor prior to planting Mercy Hill.
Hopper said he was “humbled” to be asked to consider allowing himself to be nominated for the position. If elected, Hopper said he hopes to equip and encourage pastors in the areas of growth and multiplication.
“I feel led to be nominated because there is nothing that moves the needle for the Kingdom more than the preaching of the Word,” Hopper said. “I love the idea of seeing the conference serve the churches in our state by equipping them for growth and multiplication. We have such incredible momentum right now in our state convention with baptizing, giving and sending. I would love to see this conference be catalytic as we praise God for what He is doing and ask Him to do more than we can imagine.”
Since 2015, Mercy Hill has ranked among the fastest growing churches in the country, according to “Outreach Magazine.” The church has grown from its original launch team of about 30 people to five locations across the Triad.
According to state convention records, Mercy Hill reported 1,700 in average in-person worship attendance in 2021, and an additional 1,300 in average online attendance. The church also reported 134 baptisms in 2021.
Mercy Hill contributed $57,000 to the Cooperative Program and $10,000 in giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions, according to state convention records. Additionally, the church has also invested heavily in other missions and outreach endeavors.
According to church staff, Mercy Hill has invested $100,000 in church planting and $124,000 in international missions through Mercy Hill members being sent to the nations in places like South Asia, the Middle East, Europe, East Asia, South America and Canada. Mercy Hill has also invested an additional $102,000 through a partnership with Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary to help train and equip people the church is sending out.
Moreover, Mercy has distributed $169,000 to assist families with adoptions through the church’s adoption and foster care ministry.
In addition to serving as lead pastor of Mercy Hill since the church’s founding 10 years ago, Hopper has been active in leadership roles on the state and national levels. He served on the state convention’s board of directors and also served as chairman of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Committee on Nominations in 2021.
A native of Florida, Hopper holds a bachelor’s degree in history from North Greenville University, where he also played football. He also holds a master of divinity degree in apologetics from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Hopper and his wife, Anna, have been married for 17 years, and they have four children.
(EDITOR’S NOTE – Chad Austin is the managing editor of the Biblical Recorder.)
