Who We Are
Catch The Fire Greenville is a church that is impacting and embracing our city, our nation, and the nations of the world with the love of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Catch The Fire is a local church based in Greenville, South Carolina. We desire the presence of God over any of our human plans, encountering Him and His transforming presence. We value humility, integrity, and health over gifting and anointing. We want all believers to find identity, freedom, wholeness, and healing in the Father’s love. We empower others, walking out The Great Commission by equipping and discipling.
Our History
Our story started in living rooms. Jack and Amonda Hancock began a Bible study in their living room in 1974. People searching for the Word and the Holy Spirit came every week. On a Sunday morning in March 1979, the Bible study grew into a church, Mt. Zion Christian Fellowship. Multiple sites were outgrown as more and more people came. Eventually, approximately 40 beautiful acres of land was purchased, and a facility was built on Garlington Road in Greenville, SC.
In another living room, years later, in 1996, Steve and Becky Keyes gathered six families to talk about planting a church. They also listened and obeyed as Father led them to plant CrossRoads Community Church in Simpsonville, SC. People came searching for strong Biblical teaching. CrossRoads later became City Church in 2012, when leadership realized it was no longer a seeker-sensitive church, but a church that valued both the Word and Holy Spirit.
In April 2014, Mt. Zion was without a Pastor, and City Church had outgrown its facilities. Mt. Zion had become a small congregation of seasoned members, whereas City Church had mostly younger members under the age of forty. In April 2014, a series of meetings took place between the two Elder Boards. The transition was fast and moved quickly into practical steps. When God gives you an assignment, He makes a way. The two Elder Boards merged, the City Church building was leased without any advertisement, and steps to creating a new church began. On August 31, 2014, the people of City Church joined the people of Mt. Zion on their beautiful campus for the first service of two churches under one roof—Bridgeway Church.
In 2021, the church changed the name from Bridgeway to The Garden Greenville to reflect the continual growth that happens when we follow Jesus. This name and identity have served us until recently. Over the last several months of 2024, we have been on a significant journey of rediscovering who we are as a church family. It has been a very similar journey that the disciples found themselves on with Jesus just before he went to the cross. In that huge moment of transition, Jesus told his disciples in John 12: 23 “ Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it cannot bear much fruit.”
This became more real for us when our church decided to join ourselves to the Catch the Fire family of global churches. Since then, we have been sensing the Lord wanting to bring a new and fresh identity to our church---one that would fit were we are going next. Through a series of words, confirmations, and prayer it has become clear to us that we are to change our name from the Garden Greenville to Catch the Fire Church (Greenville).
Even since the days of Bridgeway, City Church, and even Mt. Zion, our church has never had the opportunity to be joined to another group of churches or an affiliation for greater support. This is an historic moment in our church’s history because in changing our name to Catch the Fire we are joining ourselves to a healthy family of churches across America and the world. Instead of trying to establish our own vision for ourselves, we are becoming part of a larger vision for the Body of Christ in this region.
For the first time we are not alone. We are a part of something bigger than Garlington Road, bigger than Greenville, and even bigger than America. Our new identity and direction connect us with the Global Bride of Christ! This is worth getting excited about. This is the place where people will catch fire and spread it to the world. The church made the name change official during January 2025, and we look forward with great hope for the days to come.