Michael Catt, longtime pastor of Sherwood Church in Albany, Ga., who oversaw the development of Sherwood Pictures, has died after a battle with prostate cancer.
Catt served as senior pastor at Sherwood from 1989 through 2021, at which time he retired to Gatlinburg, Tenn. During that time, the church grew into a multi-generational, multi-ethnic congregation, including those from more than 20 nations.
Sherwood developed a large imprint in its city, building a 100-acre Legacy Sports Park, establishing crisis pregnancy centers, and repurposing an old Coca-Cola bottling plant into a hub for disaster relief operations and ministry to at-risk youth.
Just a few years after bringing brothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick on staff at Sherwood as associate pastor of media and associate pastor of preaching and prayer, respectively, the church stepped into filmmaking. Sherwood Pictures was born with the movie “Flywheel” in 2003. Catt served as executive producer, as well as in future projects “Facing the Giants” (2006), “Fireproof” (2008) and “Courageous” (2011).
Catt was a prolific author and well-known speaker at numerous conferences, including those at the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove. He was president of the 2008 SBC Pastors Conference, an International Mission Board trustee, and vice president of the Georgia Baptist Convention.