The church announced today on social media that Michael Catt, the longstanding pastor of Sherwood Church who oversaw the creation of Sherwood Pictures, passed away today after a courageous fight with prostate c@ncer at the age of 70.
Check out the tweet below about Michael Catt’s Obituary by c@ncer for the past five years:
As many of you know, Michael has been courageously battling prostate cancer for the past five years. In those five years, he has been blessed to have minimal side effects or pain, despite dozens of radiation and chemo treatments. 🧵
— Michael Catt (@MichaelCatt) May 24, 2023
Pastor Catt’s unwavering commitment to proclaiming the Bible’s truth and his undeniable influence on our congregation will never be forgotten. If you knew Michael Catt as a pastor or friend, please pray for the Catt family and all of us who read this statement. The former pastor’s health had recently deteriorated, according to his family.
From 1989 until his retirement in 2021, Catt was the senior pastor at Sherwood. He then moved to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. During that period, the church’s membership increased to include people from over 20 countries across multiple generations.
A 100-acre Legacy Sports Park was constructed in Sherwood, as were several crisis pregnancy centres, and a former Coca-Cola bottling facility was converted into a centre for disaster relief and outreach to at-risk adolescents.
The Hope Centre at the former bottling plant was founded and managed by Ken Bevel, the Connections and Local Missions pastor at Sherwood. “Michael was a great pastor and expositor of the Word,” Bevel told Baptist Press. For the 13 years that he was our leader, I am eternally grateful.
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Bevel’s appearances in “Courageous” and “Fireproof,” both produced by the ministry and linked with Catt – Sherwood Pictures, may have brought him more recognition outside of Albany. Sherwood Church entered the filmmaking industry within a few years after hiring brothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick as associate pastors of media and associate pastors of preaching and prayer, respectively.
The film “Flyw, heel”, released in 2003, marked the beginning of Sherwood Pictures. In addition to “Facing the Giants” (2006), “Fireproof” (2008), and “Courageous” (2011), Catt acted as executive producer on all three films. He would also serve as an executive producer on the film “Woodlawn,” directed by the Erwin brothers Andrew and Jon.
Catt revealed that he was adopted at 38 during his second year of college at Sherwood. He learned through a series of random contacts that his biological mother had seen Fireproof without realizing that his granddaughter starred in the film.
Catt was the head of several media outlets, wrote extensively, and was a sought-after speaker at events worldwide, including The Billy Graham Training Centre at The Cove. He led the Southern Baptist Convention in 2008, served as a trustee for the International Mission Board, led the Preaching Conference for the Georgia Baptist Convention, and was vice president of the GBC. Catt also attended a 2002 meeting between Southern Baptists and President George W. Bush in the Oval Office.
“So thankful for the life and ministry of Michael Catt, whose ministry reached throughout the Southern Baptist Convention and far beyond,” tweeted SBC President Bart Barber. of spite of his condition, “he faced it with a faith and confidence that made every word in Fireproof all the more real.”
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