GREENVILLE, South Carolina — In downtown Greenville, South Carolina, a Catholic bookstore and events space housed in a former moonshine distillery is an unlikely sight amid Main Street’s popular ice cream shops, boutiques and cafés in the heart of the deeply Protestant South.

Since the nonprofit Catholic center opened less than a year and a half ago, the shop has drawn locals and visitors to the area with its shelves of books and sacramentals, as well as its talks, prayer, young-adult gatherings, music and movie nights and other community events. And for those who happen to wander into Christ on Main out of curiosity, it might just be where they take the first steps on a journey of faith.

Mary Dudley, one of the apostolate’s founders, a former resident of Michigan, told the Register that upon moving to Greenville she was “stunned” to discover other Catholics seeking to share their faith in such a public way in the heart of the Bible Belt. 

“God is up to something in the Upstate,” Dudley said of her adopted home, in the northwesternmost region of South Carolina. In recent years, Greenville has emerged as a Catholic “hub,” drawing people from around the country who have formed a community of the faithful. 

Fulfillment of a Dream

Christ on Main was the realization of a dream shared by a small group of lay Catholics — most of whom had recently moved to South Carolina and connected with one another over Zoom during COVID. Inspired by the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C., located blocks from the White House, the group met regularly to talk about opening a retail and event space in the heart of downtown Greenville.

The idea — from the start — was to open a bookstore and events venue on Main Street, the charming, boutique-filled, pedestrian-friendly shopping area that has helped make Greenville a tourist destination. With its steady foot traffic and its prime location, a Main Street address was a nonnegotiable for the group.

It took a couple of years once the lockdown was over, but after consulting the Diocese of Charleston, raising the necessary money, and waiting for the right location on Main Street to become available, Christ on Main held its grand opening on June 4, 2024.

Christ on Main has hosted talks by nationally known speakers, including theologian and Catholic apologist Scott Hahn, Father John Riccardo of the Archdiocese of Detroit, authors Joseph Pearce and Mike Aquilina, and Sister Deirdre “Dede” Byrne, of the Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. 

Young adults meet there regularly for Theology on Tap, and the center hosts monthly screenings of family-friendly movies. The Calix Society, a 12-step program for Catholics, also holds its weekly meetings there. If there’s a Catholic organization that wants to use the space, Christ and Main is happy to share it. Students from Our Lady of Rosary School’s Inklings club (enthusiasts primarily of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis) hosted an event on International Inklings Day.

In addition to its big-name speakers, Christ on Main regularly features talks on theology and spirituality, given by local clergy and writers, which attract a diverse group of attendees. Charlie Bathon, who has been the general manager at Christ on Main since it opened, told the Register that all are welcome. In fact, they schedule events designed to appeal to non-Catholics.

“We had two sessions on the Apocalypse, which is a really hot topic for our evangelical population here. And it was very well received,” he said.

As manager, Bathon leads a team of volunteers whose job it is to welcome those who might be interested in the Catholic faith and direct them to the resources to learn more about the faith, whether that be giving them a list of Masses at local churches or recommending reading material. 

Bathon said that many people walking by are drawn in by the sign outside the storefront, the ancient Christian “Chi Rho” symbol with the words “Catholic Center” inscribed underneath it.

“People see it and it’s like a bear to honey,” Bathon said.

While the symbol might be broadly recognized as Christian, it is distinctly Catholic. It was Constantine, who was said to have adopted the symbol as his military standard after seeing a vision of the symbol blazing in the sky accompanied by the words, In hoc signo vinces (“In this sign, you will conquer”). And conquer he did: Constantine marched into battle under that sign and emerged victorious.

The volunteers at Christ on Main, in sharing their faith, sometimes experience moments of triumph on the spiritual battlefield. Such was the case with Brett and Caden Senno, two brothers, ages 20 and 16, who walked through the doors of the center earlier this year looking for a rosary.

When the Sennos moved to the Greenville area from Upstate New York in 2022, they considered themselves lapsed Catholics after experiencing what they refer to as “some Church hurt” at their home parish. 

In Greenville — home to Bob Jones University and so deeply evangelical that some call it the “buckle of the Bible Belt”— it’s common for newcomers to be invited to join their neighbors at church. For a time, the Senno brothers attended various nondenominational and Baptist services on Sundays, but ultimately, they found themselves missing the Catholic faith of their childhood.

“We went to both just to see what they were like and to get back into a church, and it just did not feel right or feel at home with any of us,” Brett told the Register.

Both brothers, unbeknownst to one another, began to research the Catholic faith online and found answers to their questions in popular Catholic speaker and Newman Center chaplain Father Mike Schmitz’s videos. The election of an American pope, Brett said, “sealed the deal.”

“I came to the realization that for the first 1,500 years of Christianity, everyone was Catholic,” Caden said. Then, after going to Mass at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in downtown Greenville, he said, “It just clicked.” 

The brothers started going to Mass regularly, and one day after going to confession for the first time in at least a dozen years, Brett was inspired to buy his brother a rosary. The two decided to search online for a nearby store that might sell one.

“We popped up Google Maps and a five-minute walk away was Christ on Main. It was like, ‘All right, let’s try this out,’” he said. 

The next thing they knew, they were in the bookstore, where they stayed for two hours, talking to Bathon about the faith.

The boys left with rosaries, Bibles that Bathon gave them, and, most importantly, someone to accompany them on their spiritual journey.

“Caden and I are in that store, I’m not kidding when I tell you, at least twice a week, and we stay in touch with Charlie daily,” Brett said.

Bathon, who at 70 had considered retiring after a health scare, told the Register that meeting the Sennos was profoundly moving.

“This job reminds me of the wedding feast of Cana,” the center manager said. “I think God saved my best wine for last.”

A year and a half after the store’s opening, Bathon said, the center is working to reach more Catholics in the area. “We currently have about 2,700 people on our email list. That’s a far cry from the 60,000 in the county who are Catholic,” he noted. 

About 60% of those on their mailing list are visitors to Greenville — including pilots and flight attendants who make a point of stopping in for their events when they have a layover at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport. A growing number of regulars are young people, from Greenville and nearby Furman College, Clemson University, and University of South Carolina, who drop in while they are home on break. 

Bathon hopes the center can become a place where people can come together socially. Its book-filled rooms, adorned with sacred art, hardwood floors and period lighting make it an inviting gathering space, with comfortable couches and wingback chairs arranged to encourage conversation.

“Instead of going to Starbucks and having a cup of coffee, come here and have a cup of coffee,” he said, noting that the board has floated the idea of opening a coffee shop.

 “We’re going to see where the Holy Spirit leads us,” Bathon said.

That’s been the plan all along, and it’s carried them from a Zoom meetup to a storefront in Greenville’s busiest shopping district. And for people like the Senno brothers — whose quest for a rosary was part of a much deeper search — Christ on Main was there.