Featured in Eternity News, April 2017
Josh Kelsey on the Dinner Party Church
Featured in Eternity News (Australia) on the Dinner Party church model that shaped FOUNT Church NYC. Planted in Brooklyn, February 2013, by Josh and Georgie Kelsey.
Josh Kelsey, founding pastor of FOUNT Church NYC (formerly C3 NYC), was featured in Eternity News at C3 Presence speaking on what he called a Dinner Party church. Planted in Brooklyn in 2013 alongside his wife Georgie Kelsey, FOUNT was built around a simple conviction: real community happens around tables, not stages.
The vision
In the Eternity News feature, Josh described the long view for FOUNT this way: that the vision will always be a Dinner Party church, with a Dinner Party on every block. Not big services. He believes that big services are easy when there is great community, and that Sundays look after themselves when there is momentum around the table.
The model
Every Wednesday across New York City, FOUNT runs Dinner Parties in homes, parks, and rooftops. Each one is led by a team of four, so that no single absence stops the gathering. The article notes that this team approach builds weekly momentum and keeps the church durable.
How FOUNT began
Josh and Georgie Kelsey moved from Sydney to Brooklyn in February 2013 with their six month old son. The first Dinner Party had five people. FOUNT (originally planted as C3 NYC and rebranded in 2023) now gathers across locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, with Dinner Parties continuing as the foundational rhythm of the church.