Michael Catt: Biography, Sherwood Baptist Church & Legacy

Michael Cameron Catt (born December 25, 1952, in Pascagoula, Mississippi; died June 12, 2023) was an American pastor, author, and film producer best known as the longtime senior pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. Michael Catt led Sherwood for 31 years, from 1989 to 2021, and turned a small regional congregation into the church behind some of the most successful faith-based movies ever made, including Facing the Giants, Fireproof, and Courageous. Christian film industry insiders often called him “the Godfather of Christian Film,” a title that barely covers the ground he actually walked.

[IMAGE: Michael Catt preaching at Sherwood Baptist Church, Albany, Georgia]

At a Glance

Early Life and Background

Michael Catt was born on Christmas Day, 1952, in Pascagoula, Mississippi. His birth mother gave him up for adoption, and he was raised by Grover and Winnie Catt. He didn’t actually learn he was adopted until he was 38 years old, a fact he later talked about openly as part of his own story of grace.

Growing up, Catt worked in his father’s business, Catt Pharmacy, and his family was active at Calvary Baptist Church. At 18, during the height of the Jesus Movement, he surrendered his life to Christ at a revival service. That decision set the direction for everything that followed.

He met Terri Payne not long after, and the two were married on August 10, 1974, at First Baptist Church in Moss Point, Mississippi. Catt called Terri his “better half and equal partner” for the rest of his life, and she stood beside him through nearly five decades of ministry.

Education and Calling

Catt earned a degree in biblical studies from Mississippi College in 1975. He went on to complete a Master of Divinity at Luther Rice Seminary and later a Doctor of Ministry at Trinity Theological Seminary of South Florida. He was ordained into gospel ministry in December 1976.

Before Sherwood, Catt spent 15 years in student ministry, serving as a youth pastor at five Southern Baptist churches across Oklahoma, South Carolina, Georgia, and Texas. That run through youth ministry gave him a long runway of experience before he ever stepped into a senior pastor’s role.

Ministry Journey: From Ada, Oklahoma to Sherwood Baptist

Catt’s first senior pastorate was at First Baptist Church in Ada, Oklahoma. From there, in 1989, Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia called him as its fifth senior pastor. He was 36 years old.

Sherwood was a neighborhood church when Catt arrived. Over the next three decades, it grew into a regional, multi-generational, multi-ethnic congregation with members coming from more than 20 nations and 20-plus surrounding communities. By the time he retired, Catt had delivered well over 1,600 sermons from the Sherwood pulpit.

[IMAGE: Sherwood Baptist Church campus, Albany, Georgia]

Building Sherwood’s Community Footprint

Growth under Catt wasn’t only about attendance numbers. Sherwood opened the Alpha Crisis Pregnancy Center in 1991 and a Biblical Counseling Center in 2007. The church repurposed an old Coca-Cola bottling plant into The Hope Center, a hub for disaster relief and outreach to at-risk youth. It also built a 100-acre Legacy Sports Park to reach families through community athletics, and it planted or supported churches in 32 cities across North America.

Rise to Prominence: Sherwood Pictures

This is where most people actually know the name Michael Catt, even if they’ve never heard him preach. Early in his tenure, Catt brought on two brothers, Alex Kendrick and Stephen Kendrick, as associate pastors of media and preaching. The three of them shared a conviction that Sherwood could tell gospel stories through film, using volunteers from the congregation instead of professional studios.

Sherwood Pictures released Flywheel in 2003, a low-budget movie about a used car salesman’s spiritual turnaround. It cost about $20,000 to make and earned back roughly $37,000, a modest number that nonetheless proved the model could work. What came next changed the landscape of Christian film entirely.

• Facing the Giants (2006) — a high school football drama that became a surprise box office hit
• Fireproof (2008) — Catt served as executive producer; the film became the highest-grossing independent movie of 2008
• Courageous (2011) — a story about fatherhood that resonated far beyond church audiences

Catt also served as an executive producer on Woodlawn (2015), a film by the Erwin Brothers about the Jesus Movement’s impact on an Alabama high school football team in the 1970s. The success of Sherwood Pictures opened the door for other faith-based studios and producers, including DeVon Franklin, to find footing in mainstream distribution.

[IMAGE: Behind-the-scenes production still from a Sherwood Pictures film]

Books and Publications

Catt wrote more than a dozen books over his career. His bestseller, Fireproof Your Life, became the fastest-selling book in the history of CLC Publications. He also wrote Prepare for Rain, an account of what God had done at Sherwood, along with Upgrade, Courageous Living, and Courageous Teens, which won Best Young Adult Non-Fiction Book at the International Christian Retail Show in 2013.

Between 2009 and 2017, Catt released a four-part ReFRESH book series with Broadman & Holman: The Power of Desperation, The Power of Persistence, The Power of Surrender, and The Power of Purpose. He also co-authored the Love Dare Curriculum, the small-group companion to the bestselling book that grew out of Fireproof.

ReFRESH Conferences and Denominational Leadership

In 2003, Catt launched the ReFRESH Conference, an annual gathering focused on revival and the pursuit of a deeper Christian life. It ran in Albany and in cities around the country, aimed squarely at refreshing pastors and lay leaders who needed it as much as anyone in the pews.

Catt’s leadership reached beyond his own church. He served as a trustee with the Southern Baptist Convention‘s International Mission Board and was elected president of the SBC’s Pastors’ Conference in 2008, a role that put him in front of leaders representing more than 42,000 churches. He also led the Georgia Baptist Convention’s Preaching Conference.

Personal Life

Michael and Terri Catt had two daughters, Erin and Hayley. Erin Bethea followed her father into the film world, starring in Facing the Giants and Fireproof and going on to write, produce, and act in her own projects. She married Drew Waters, a director she met on set. Hayley Catt worked behind the scenes on Sherwood’s films as a still photographer and production secretary, and later became a social media manager and adoptive mother herself. Catt used to joke that he was the proud resident of a “girls dorm,” and by the end of his life he had three granddaughters: Preslee, Ella, and Paisley.

[IMAGE: Michael Catt with his wife Terri and daughters]

The Catts retired to Gatlinburg, Tennessee in 2021, after Michael stepped down from the Sherwood pulpit.

Theology and Ministry Philosophy

Catt preached expository sermons built around a single life verse, 2 Corinthians 4:5: “For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.” That verse shaped how he approached both the pulpit and the film sets Sherwood built — the goal was never to showcase Sherwood or Catt himself, but to point people toward Christ.

He was also a driving force behind racial reconciliation in Albany. Sherwood partnered for years with the historically African American Mt. Zion Baptist Church, with Catt and Mt. Zion’s Pastor Daniel Simmons regularly preaching in each other’s pulpits and encouraging congregations that had worshipped separately for generations to worship together.

Influence and Legacy

Sherwood Pictures didn’t just make a handful of successful movies. It proved that a local church, using volunteer actors and a modest budget, could produce films that competed at the national box office and shaped how millions of American Christians thought about faith on screen. The Kendrick Brothers went on to build their own independent studio after leaving Sherwood, and their success traces directly back to the opportunity Catt gave them.

Catt’s leadership legacy at Sherwood extended into the community itself, through the crisis pregnancy centers, the sports park, and the racial reconciliation work with Mt. Zion. For that work, he received the Martin Luther King Award, the MLK Unity Award, and a Georgia Senate Resolution recognizing his contribution to the city of Albany. His approach to leadership reflected many of the qualities that define effective, trustworthy Christian leadership: consistency, humility, and a willingness to hand influence to younger leaders like the Kendrick brothers rather than hold onto it himself.

Criticism and Controversies

Michael Catt’s public record carries none of the personal scandal that has followed other prominent pastors. The criticism directed at his ministry tended to land on the broader faith-based film genre rather than on Catt personally. Early Sherwood Pictures releases, made with volunteer casts and modest budgets, drew mixed reviews from mainstream film critics who found the production values uneven and the storytelling heavy-handed compared to studio films. Supporters countered that the films were never meant to compete with Hollywood on technical polish, and that their box office success and cultural impact spoke for themselves. Later releases, particularly Courageous, saw noticeably improved critical reception as the filmmaking team gained experience.

Death and Final Years

Catt was diagnosed with prostate cancer and fought the disease for five years. In 2021, he stepped down as senior pastor of Sherwood and retired to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. By the spring of 2023, his health had taken a serious turn; doctors found the cancer had spread and a tumor had developed in his brain stem. His daughter Erin Bethea shared updates publicly, asking for prayer and expressing the family’s hope in the promise of heaven.

Michael Catt entered hospice care and died on June 12, 2023, at the age of 70. Tributes came from across the Southern Baptist Convention, including then-SBC President Bart Barber and International Mission Board President Paul Chitwood, who both credited Catt’s decades of faithful, behind-the-scenes support for missions. He was survived by Terri, his wife of nearly 49 years, his daughters Erin and Hayley, and his three granddaughters.

Facing his own illness, Catt lived out the same trust he had preached for decades, a reminder that trials are part of the Christian life rather than a sign that faith has failed.

Net Worth and Financial Information

There’s no reliable, publicly verified net worth figure for Michael Catt. He served as a Baptist church pastor for over three decades and never presented himself as wealthy from ministry income; proceeds from Sherwood Pictures’ films were reinvested into the church’s community ministries rather than personal enrichment. Any specific dollar figure circulating online should be treated as speculation, not fact.

Awards and Recognition

• Martin Luther King Award
• MLK Unity Award
• Georgia Senate Resolution honoring his community and reconciliation work
• President, Southern Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference (2008)
• Doctor of Humane Letters, University of Mobile (2010)
• Courageous Teens named Best Young Adult Non-Fiction Book, International Christian Retail Show (2013)

Interesting Facts

• Catt was born on Christmas Day, 1952, which is where the search question “Michael C. Catt a Christmas baby” comes from.
• He didn’t find out he was adopted until he was 38 years old.
• His daughter Erin Bethea starred in Fireproof, the film her father executive produced.
• His wife, Terri, worked as the wardrobe coordinator on both Facing the Giants and Fireproof.
• Sherwood’s early film, Flywheel, was made for about $20,000 and helped launch a genre now worth hundreds of millions at the box office.
• He served on the Board of Regents at the University of Mobile, where both of his daughters graduated.

Timeline

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Michael C. Catt?

Michael C. Catt was the senior pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, from 1989 to 2021, and the executive producer behind Sherwood Pictures films like Facing the Giants, Fireproof, and Courageous.

What happened to Mike Catt?

Michael Catt retired from Sherwood Baptist Church in 2021 after a long battle with prostate cancer. He died on June 12, 2023, at age 70, at his home in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

What is Mike Catt known for?

Catt is best known for launching Sherwood Pictures, the church-based film ministry behind Fireproof and Courageous, and for his 31-year pastorate at Sherwood Baptist Church.

Where did Michael Catt preach?

Catt preached at Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, where he served as senior pastor for 31 years, after earlier youth pastor roles in Oklahoma, South Carolina, Georgia, and Texas, and a first senior pastorate at First Baptist Church in Ada, Oklahoma.

Who are Mike Catt’s parents?

Michael Catt was adopted as an infant and raised by Grover and Winnie Catt in Pascagoula, Mississippi. He didn’t learn he was adopted until he was 38 years old.

Where is Mike Catt from?

Michael Catt was born and raised in Pascagoula, Mississippi, before eventually settling in Albany, Georgia, to lead Sherwood Baptist Church.

Have you watched Fireproof or Courageous, or sat under Michael Catt’s preaching at Sherwood? Share your memory of his ministry in the comments below.

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About the author: This biography was researched and written by the Flicxa editorial team, dedicated to accurate, well-sourced profiles of pastors, ministry leaders, and gospel artists.