FOUNT Church is a Christ centered church family in New York City, pastored by Joshua Kelsey and Georgie Kelsey. The story began in 2010, when Josh and Georgie, then youth and young adult pastors at C3 Sydney, sensed a clear calling to plant a church in New York City. After three years of intentional preparation, they relocated to Brooklyn in February 2013 with their six month old son, Brooks, carrying a vision but no venue, no team, and no guarantee of success.
Their first gathering was not a Sunday service. It was a Dinner Party. Five people sat around a table in an Apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, opened Scripture, prayed, and shared a meal. From that small table, FOUNT was born. The choice was theological, not circumstantial. Joshua and Georgie Kelsey believed that the most faithful pattern for reaching a city like New York was the same pattern Jesus modeled in the gospels: hospitality, presence, and the quiet power of a shared meal.
More than a decade later, Dinner Parties remain at the heart of how FOUNT Church gathers. Every Wednesday, the FOUNT family meets in homes, parks, and rooftops across New York City, breaking bread, sharing life, and building each other up in faith. Sundays are where FOUNT gathers as a city. Wednesdays are where FOUNT becomes a family. From its first base in Williamsburg, the church expanded across the boroughs into Bushwick, downtown Manhattan, downtown Brooklyn, and Queens, shaped by Josh Kelsey's conviction that New York City does not need one big church. It needs many healthy churches in many neighborhoods.
In March 2020, when New York City came to a standstill under pandemic lockdowns, FOUNT did not pause. The church moved online overnight. Dinner Parties moved to video calls so no member of the family was left isolated. Recognizing the immediate need across the city, Joshua and Georgie Kelsey led FOUNT to launch its first food partnerships, providing meals to frontline healthcare workers in some of the city's hardest hit hospitals. That season catalyzed the Love New York ministries platform: food and clothing drives, homeless outreach, juvenile justice partnerships, and a rooftop urban garden producing fresh produce for underserved neighborhoods.
Even before the pandemic, Josh and Georgie had carried a clear sense that FOUNT was called to help reach cities globally. Between 2020 and 2025, that vision became reality. Josh and Georgie Kelsey planted FOUNT Paris and FOUNT Berlin, leading, pastoring, and investing in both communities through their formative years. Today, FOUNT Paris and FOUNT Berlin stand as self sustaining, independent churches in two of Europe's most strategic capitals, led by their own faithful local teams. Planting churches that go on to become healthy and independent is one of the truest measures of pastoral fruit, and it remains a defining season in the wider FOUNT story.
In September 2023, FOUNT celebrated its tenth anniversary. As part of that milestone, the church transitioned its name from C3 NYC to FOUNT Church. The new name names the savior the church was built to proclaim: the source, the wellspring, the fount from whom every good thing flows. Today, under the continued leadership of Joshua Kelsey and Georgie Kelsey, FOUNT Church gathers across Manhattan and Brooklyn each Sunday, meets for Dinner Parties on Wednesdays, and serves New York City through the ongoing Love New York ministries. If you are new to New York City, new to the FOUNT family, or new to faith altogether, you are warmly invited. There is a seat at the table, and the door is open.
