Bethany Covenant Church in St. Charles celebrates first Easter service inside new home in Dimple’s Donuts

On Sunday, those attending Bethany Covenant Church’s Easter service were able to celebrate the resurrection of Christ and get something sweet to eat before and after the service.

Bethany Covenant Church holds its services in Dimple’s Donuts at 1307 E. Main St. in St. Charles. Dimple’s Donuts reopened for business April 1 after being closed because of a water pipe break.

“We’re trying to create a community that feels really safe for people who are just starting to come to church.”

—  The Rev. Laura Tarro

This was the church’s first Easter service in its new space. Bethany Covenant, also known as the “Donut Church,” has been meeting at Dimple’s Donuts since last fall.

“We are here to celebrate the resurrection and I’d like to say that on Easter, we celebrate like we are going to live forever because we believe that’s actually true,” the Rev. Laura Tarro said to the congregation during the service.

The relationship between the church and Dimple’s Donuts began after a burst pipe in January 2022 damaged the dining area of the restaurant. Laura Tarro’s husband, Jeff, is a captain with the St. Charles Fire Department and was one of the first responders the night of the emergency call.

“It was a sprinkler pipe and just tons of water filled this space,” Laura Tarro said. “All of the ceiling had to be ripped out and a lot of the walls because the insulation got soaked and the drywall got destroyed.”

The couple lives in St. Charles near the building.

The restaurant originally opened in 2017. Owner Sovannary Vong also owns the Dimple’s Donuts store in Batavia.

Bethany Covenant Church, which is a new church, started meeting at Dimple’s Donuts in September 2022. Before that, the church had been meeting at Trinity Vineyard Christian Fellowship in St. Charles.

“We just kind of started building a group of people and talking about what kind of church we wanted to be,” Laura Tarro said.

She said the space in Dimple’s Donuts works well as a place where people feel welcome. Bethany Covenant Church is part of the Evangelical Covenant Church.

“We’re trying to create a community that feels really safe for people who are just starting to come to church,” she said. “We are trying to explain things to people that haven’t grown up in a church, that don’t know the whole history of the Bible and don’t really have a background in the church community.”

The church’s congregation is still small. On any given Sunday, the church sees an average of between 30 and 40 people.

Bethany Covenant Church rents the space in Dimple’s Donuts and can use the space throughout the week. Dimple’s Donuts is open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 6 to 11 a.m. Sunday.

“This past week on Thursday night we had our Passover dinner celebration,” Tarro said. “And there is a room in the basement that we use for children’s ministry.”

She hopes that being in a doughnut shop creates a sense of community.

“On the last Sunday of every month, we do a potluck,” Tarro said. “People load up their plates and we spend the first half of the service just eating together.”

Melissa Duncan, pastoral intern at Bethany Covenant Church, said this is the first time she has experienced a church inside a doughnut shop.

“It is a really accessible space and a really welcoming space for people who want to be part of a community and want to learn about God but maybe would be intimidated by a traditional church,” Duncan said.

Duncan is a student at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago. She started her internship in January.

Duncan likes the idea of a church meeting inside a doughnut shop.

“There’s something special that happens around food,” she said. “It’s just a really beautiful space.”