• Former board member leaked financial review findings alleging governance failures
• Pastors deny wrongdoing, claim expenditures have context and proper justification
• Church separated from Australian parent organization weeks before audit commissioned

NEW YORK, NY (TDR) — Australian-born pastors Josh and Georgie Kelsey face mounting allegations they charged more than $900,000 in unauthorized personal expenses to their megachurch’s credit card while dissolving oversight boards and operating the New York congregation remotely from Australia.

Fount New York City, formerly known as C3 Brooklyn, commissioned accounting firm CapinCrouse to review nearly a decade of pastoral spending after internal concerns escalated. The preliminary audit identified approximately $1.4 million in charges requiring examination, with more than $900,000 appearing to constitute personal expenses lacking proper documentation or board approval.

Financial Review Reveals Spending Pattern

The CapinCrouse audit examined 186 receipts, 20 expense reports and email documentation spanning nine years. Partner Stan Reiff authored the confidential preliminary review delivered to church leadership in November 2024.

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Identified expenditures included $29,700 for personal flights, $28,700 for electronics, $25,000 for clothing, nearly $50,000 for therapy sessions, $9,392 for surfing activities, $3,500 for alcohol purchases, $2,300 for haircuts and $3,500 for parking tickets, according to the leaked findings.

An additional $220,000 in charges lacked any supporting documentation or receipts, the audit determined.

“The Pastors consistently have not provided receipts or other documentation related to their expenses,” the CapinCrouse report stated, noting that proper documentation is “essential” to prevent “abuse of their positions” under IRS guidelines governing excessive compensation.

Josh Kelsey defended the spending during a January 6 video call with congregants, arguing the auditors failed to include necessary context for the expenditures.

“My conscience is clear,” Kelsey stated. “I know what I’ve spent things on.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE THE DUPREE REPORT

The pastor characterized the $1.4 million total as reasonable when distributed across nine years, and explained specific purchases such as the surfing expenses as part of post-pandemic sabbatical restoration.

Board Governance Disputes Emerge

Former board member David Chan leaked the audit findings in early January, simultaneously accusing Josh Kelsey of dismantling the existing board after members confronted him about financial irregularities.

“I’m troubled by recent events and must do what is right before the Lord,” Chan wrote in a January 5 letter to church members obtained by The Roys Report.

Chan alleged Kelsey dissolved the board that questioned his spending, then nominated hand-picked replacement trustees. According to Chan’s account, Kelsey scheduled a December 1 congregational vote for new board members but members requested additional time. The pastor reset the vote for January 11 with his own slate of nominees.

Chan proposed an alternative group of six nominees that included himself and overlapped with two of Kelsey’s selections. He also accused church attorney Barry Black of refusing to cooperate with the CapinCrouse audit, instead hiring a different firm, KPM Auditors and Accountants.

Black disputed Chan’s characterization of events entirely, telling The Roys Report that Chan and other board members challenging Kelsey were never legitimate board members in the first place.

“New York law states that boards must be elected by the majority of the members, and Chan and others weren’t properly elected,” Black argued.

The attorney insisted he has reviewed internal documentation from both accounting and law firms confirming the Kelseys engaged in no wrongdoing, though he declined to share this documentation with media outlets.

“I’ve seen internal documents from both accounting and law firms stating the Kelseys engaged in no wrongdoing,” Black stated.

The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability recommends church boards include at least five members to prevent small groups from controlling organizations, with at least half being independent members unrelated to staff or other board members.

Staff Members Cite Accountability Concerns

Isabella Aguilar, Fount NYC’s former financial director, raised similar concerns in a November 5 letter to church advisors obtained by investigators.

“We simply want there to be honesty and accountability here — especially in a city where people are already hurt, bitter, and skeptical of the Church,” Aguilar wrote.

Her letter detailed years of unsuccessful attempts to obtain expense documentation from Josh Kelsey despite requiring all other staff members to submit receipts for every expenditure. A previous audit attempt in 2021 failed due to lack of documentation, according to Aguilar.

“The executive AMEX cards were still active, lacking receipts, and with no accountability to their spending,” Aguilar stated in her correspondence.

The former financial director expressed particular frustration upon learning the Kelseys had not obtained board approval for the church to fund their relocation to Australia.

Michael Andrews, who served as Fount NYC’s music director until resigning in 2025, described a double standard in how policies applied to pastoral leadership versus other employees.

“It was just this entitled attitude of, ‘I can do whatever I want,'” Andrews told The Roys Report.

While Andrews said the church denied his request to work remotely when facing family needs in Florida, the Kelseys relocated to Australia in 2024 to be near family members battling cancer yet maintained their full-time positions leading the New York congregation.

“Staff had to explain every receipt. But certain rules didn’t seem to apply to the Kelseys,” Andrews stated.

Church History and Expansion

The Kelseys moved from Sydney to New York in February 2013 with their six-month-old son to plant what was initially called C3 Brooklyn, affiliated with the Sydney-based C3 church-planting movement that has established 600 churches across 54 countries.

The congregation began with five people attending a “Dinner Party” format that the church continues hosting on Wednesdays. Within five years, the church expanded throughout New York’s boroughs, rebranding as C3 NYC in 2018. By 2020, Fount had opened additional locations in Paris and Berlin.

In 2023, the church changed its name from C3 NYC to Fount Church, with leadership explaining they wanted a name that directly pointed to Jesus Christ.

Last August, weeks before the financial review was commissioned, Fount NYC voluntarily separated from the C3 church-planting movement. Neither C3 nor Fount has publicly explained the reason for separation. The church’s website has not been updated to reflect the organizational change, with the giving page still indicating C3 provides financial oversight and accountability.

Fount NYC remains registered with the IRS under its original name C3 Brooklyn. Corporate documents filed with Kings County show the original three trustees voted into office by themselves were Josh Kelsey, Georgie Kelsey and one other founding member.

Comparisons to Other Megachurch Controversies

Current and former members have drawn parallels between Fount NYC and Hillsong NYC, another Australian-founded megachurch that experienced multiple scandals including the November 2020 firing of pastor Carl Lentz for infidelity and other misconduct.

Both churches share similar contemporary worship styles, young professional demographics and organizational structures that some critics argue lack sufficient accountability mechanisms.

“Fount NYC has been compared to Hillsong NYC—not only for its worship style but also for various red flags and controversies. These include a lack of accountability, transparency, and documentation for purchases,” Church Leaders reported.

Some members and former employees expressed concern that scandal could damage the church’s evangelistic efforts in a skeptical urban environment.

Scott Thumma, a professor of sociology of religion at Hartford International University, noted that megachurch accountability presents unique challenges regardless of denominational affiliation.

“A lot of the mega churches, even if they are denominational, because they’re so large compared to the average congregation in the United States, which is about 60 people, it’s difference between a David and a Goliath,” Thumma explained in a PBS interview discussing megachurch governance. “That raises a lot of issues around accountability.”

He emphasized that nondenominational megachurch boards picked by senior pastors create particularly difficult accountability structures.

Ongoing Developments

The January 11 congregational vote on new board members and the competing audits from CapinCrouse and KPM represent the next critical junctures in the controversy.

Dan Lian, an associate pastor from New Spring Church in South Carolina serving as advisor and teaching team coach at Fount NYC, has publicly supported the Kelseys. During a livestreamed service, Lian led the congregation in applause for the pastoral couple.

The dispute highlights broader tensions in contemporary church governance between charismatic leadership models centered on founding pastors and institutional accountability structures designed to prevent financial impropriety.

Should megachurch boards be required to maintain independent majorities with no familial or financial relationships to senior pastors?

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