Our
Story
Bethany Covenant Church has its roots in a community Bible study that began in a park district building in St. Charles in 2014. We sent the kids down the hall for an Awana program, and we circled up and read the Bible with our friends. This group would continue to meet together for several years. We called it a beginner Bible study, and that’s exactly what it was. We learned to encounter God in the Bible together.
In the fall of 2021, this group became the nucleus of a new church plant, Bethany Covenant Church. We partnered with the Evangelical Covenant Church and began looking for a space where we could grow together. We found a vacant donut shop on Main St. in St. Charles. At the time, we weren’t quite ready to start paying rent, but we contacted the owner to get an idea of what it might cost.
That winter, a sprinkler pipe in the building burst, dumping thousands of gallons of water in the space. We got in touch with the owner the next day to see if she needed help with the clean up. As we mopped up the water and tore out soggy drywall, she asked if we were still interested in renting the space. She wanted to know if we were interested in sharing the space with her donut shop.
Sharing the space? With a donut shop!? Yes!
From our beginnings as a community Bible study for beginners, we always knew that we wanted to be a different kind of church.
We wanted to be a place that anyone could feel welcome to come and learn about God: to encounter Jesus, experience transformation, grow in faith, and encourage one another. The more we thought about the idea of starting a church in a donut shop; the more we loved it. We began a process of partnering together to share the space. That process included a complete renovation of the space, community work days, and receiving communion together in a construction site. We are experiencing transformation together.