Almost $30,000 in personal flights. At least $3,500 of alcohol. About $2,300 for haircuts. And more than $9,000 on surfing.

These were just some of the expenses New York megachurch pastors racked up on their church credit card, according to a preliminary review by auditors leaked in early January.

Pastors Josh and Georgie Kelsey, the Australian founders of Fount NYC, are being accused of spending nearly $1.4 million on their church American Express credit card without proper documentation or board approval. Accounting firm CapinCrouse reviewed a nine-year period of spending and found more than $900,000 in what seem to be personal expenses.

Josh Kelsey denies misusing funds. He told church members in a Jan. 6 recorded videocall that the review doesn’t include any “context” and auditors didn’t allow him to explain.

But the allegations go beyond claims of misspent money.

Former Fount NYC board member David Chan has accused Kelsey of dismantling the board that confronted Kelsey, then nominating new, hand-selected trustees. In a Jan. 5 letter to church members obtained by El Informe Roys (TRR), Chan also accused Kelsey of trying to run the New York church from Australia without telling the congregation.

Kelsey denies these allegations, as well.

Recorded church Zoom calls and documentation show a church in crisis with Kelsey scrambling to address allegations. Lawyers are involved and bylaws are being questioned.

Dan Lian, an out-of-state pastor, serving as advisor and teaching team coach at Fount NYC, is standing with the Kelseys.

Lian, an associate pastor of New Spring Church in South Carolina, led the New York congregation in applause for the Kelseys during last Sunday’s livestreamed service.

“I love you, Pastor Josh,” Lian said. “I’m deeply and profoundly proud to be your friends and your partners in the Gospel.”

The Kelseys didn’t respond to TRR’s multiple requests for comment. But a new board president sent TRR una declaración that the board emailed to the church this week, assuring oversight in governance, finances, church properties, legal responsibilities and strategy.

“We recognize that good governance only truly bears fruit when it is joined with godly spiritual leadership,” the board wrote. “For that reason, the Board intends to remain in close, prayerful relationships with staff and members.”

Former church leaders are calling for better accountability.

“I have been troubled by what has been happening over the last few months at Fount NYC, especially by the lack of genuine accountability and transparency, and I need to do what is right before The Lord,” Chan wrote on Jan. 5.

Chan’s email includes links to the CapinCrouse review and other documentation, from a church member. Chan didn’t respond to TRR's requests for comment.

Kelsey explained some of the context of his purchases in the Jan. 6 meeting. He said he went surfing, for instance, after his sabbatical coach recommended it for his mental health.

“That money was invested to, again, help in my emotional, mental restoration after COVID,” Kelsey said.

On that call, Kelsey accused Chan of sowing division and said Chan “weaponized” the financial review by making it public.

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

'No accountability for their spending'

The Kelseys moved from Sydney to New York in 2013 to found Fount NYC, originally called C3 Brooklyn. The church initially was part of the Sydney-based C3 church planting movement, which has started 600 churches in 54 countries.

C3 Brooklyn soon expanded into New York’s other boroughs, changing its name to C3 NYC in 2018. In 2020, the church also opened branches in Paris y Berlin.

Last August, a few weeks before the financial review, Fount NYC voluntarily separated from C3, C3 told TRR. No reason has been given by C3 for the separation and Fount hasn’t updated su sitio web to note the exit. The church’s giving page still says that C3 provides financial oversight and accountability.

Fount NYC is registered in its original name of C3 Brooklyn with the IRS. Its certificate of incorporation, filed with Kings County in New York, show that its original three trustees, voted into office by themselves, were Josh and Georgie Kelsey and Fount’s former CFO Michael Lark.

Fount NYC attracts a lot of young people, said Courtney Henley, a filmmaker and Fount church member of 10 years. But this comes with a responsibility for transparency, especially in a city that is recovering from the scandal involving Hillsong NYC and its former celebrity pastor Carl Lentz.

“My concern over this whole incident is that it will turn young people away from the church,” Henley said.

Isabella Aguilar, Fount NYC’s former financial director, had the same concern when she escribió una carta to the church’s advisors last Nov 5.

“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.

TRR wasn’t able to contact Aguilar for comment.

Aguilar’s email describes years of trying unsuccessfully to get Josh Kelsey to submit documentation for his expenses. Other staff were required to do so, but Kelsey wouldn’t, the letter said.

Michael Andrew, Fount’s music director until his 2025 resignation, told TRR that staff had to explain every receipt. But certain rules didn’t seem to apply to the Kelseys. When Andrew had a family need in Florida, Andrew said the church wouldn’t allow him to work remotely. But the Kelseys got to move to Australia last year to be near family with cancer and keep their jobs at the church.

The double standard was frustrating, Andrew said.

“It was just this entitled attitude of, ‘I can do whatever I want,’” Andrew said.

Aguilar wrote that she was frustrated to learn that the Kelseys hadn’t gotten board approval for the church to pay for their move to Australia.

An attempt to audit the ministers’ spending failed in 2021 because of a lack of documentation, according to Aguilar. Last year, CapinCrouse was hired to evaluate spending again, she said.

“(T)he executive AMEX cards were still active, lacking receipts, and with no accountability to their spending. …” Aguilar wrote.

Last year, Fount NYC trustees commissioned CapinCrouse to conduct a financial review. Stan Reiff, CapinCrouse partner, authored a preliminary financial review, sending it to Aguilar on Nov. 4.

Reiff told TRR that the church trustees asked him to write the report, and it was meant to be confidential. He wouldn’t comment further on the findings.

CapinCrouse looked at 186 receipts, 20 expense reports and email documentation that showed “the Pastors consistently have not provided receipts or other documentation related to their expenses, even after repeated requests.”

Some of the Kelseys’ unapproved, personal expenses include:

• $25,005.74 for clothing
• $28,761.73 for electronics
• $67,151.69 for entertainment
  • $11,821.92 for sports
  • $9,392.37 for surfing
  • $6,507.88 for golf
• $65,355.80 for health-related items and services
  • $49,548.35 for therapy
  • $6,131.94 for supplements
  • $1,665.01 for spa-related treatments.
• $29,802.14 on parking ($3,514.99 for tickets/fines)
• $8,294.19 for personal trading and investment accounts

 
Another $222,916.79 of spending couldn’t be classified because of lack of documentation, the report found.

The CapinCrouse’s report says pastors must submit to IRS guidelines about excessive compensation and that documentation is “essential” to prevent “abuse of their positions.”

In the Jan. 6 meeting, Kelsey argued that $1.4 million is not much money because it was spread over nine years.

Barry Black, Fount NYC’s attorney, told TRR that he’s seen “internal documents” from both accounting and law firms stating the Kelseys engaged in no “wrongdoing.” However, Black wouldn’t share this documentation with TRR.

Illegitimate board?

In his Jan. 5 letter to church members, Chan described several attempts to confront the Kelseys in the fall of 2025.

According to Chan, Kelsey and Black responded by disbanding the board, taking exclusive control themselves.

Black told TRR that Chan and others weren’t legitimate board members to begin with. New York law states that boards must be elected by the majority of the members, and Chan and others weren’t properly elected, Black said. 

De acuerdo con la Consejo Evangélico para la Responsabilidad Financiera (ECFA), church boards should have at least five members “to avoid a very small group from controlling the organization.” The ECFA also advises that at least half of the board should be independent, meaning they are not employees or staff members of the organization or related to staff or other board members.

Kelsey scheduled a Dec. 1 congregational meeting to take a vote for new board members, but members asked for more time, Chan wrote. Kelsey announced Jan. 11 as the new date for the vote with nominees que Kelsey chose.  Chan proposed an alternate group of six nominees, which included Chan and overlapped with two of Kelsey’s nominees.

Around the same time, Black refused to cooperate with CapinCrouse’s audit, Chan said, and instead hired another firm, KPM Auditors and Accountants. KPM’s founder also advertises accounting services for cannabis businesses.

Church advisors sent un correo electrónico to church members with the Jan. 11 board election results. All six of Kelsey’s recommendations won.

Former staffer Michael Andrew told TRR he hopes Fount NYC will change its ways to be more transparent. In the meantime, he said he had a burden to speak up.

He added, “This was a way so that other people don’t fall for their trap anymore.”  

Rebecca Hopkins es una periodista radicada en Colorado.