View source for Bergen, Bernhard (1769-1809)

Bernhard Bergen (according to other sources Peter Bargen or Bergen), b. 14 May 1769 in the [[Danzig (Poland)|Danzig]] region, d. 8 April 1809, in the [[Chortitza Mennonite Settlement (Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Chortitza]] settlement in the [[Ukraine|Ukraine]], South [[Russia|Russia]]. He was ordained minister in 1802 (or 1804) and co-elder in 1806, both in the [[Chortitza Mennonite Church (Chortitza, Chortitza Mennonite Settlement, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Chortitza congregation]]. The reason for his ordination to the eldership is not clear, since [[Wiebe, Johann (1766-1823)|Johann Wiebe]] was also serving in the office. It was apparently customary in Chortitza to ordain a co-elder, who took the place of the elder at his passing. The elder's office was at that time no doubt fraught with difficulty, for the Chortitza settlement was not yet filled, and there was general dissatisfaction with the plan of settlement and constant friction between the religious and secular leadership in the colony, in addition to a feeling of being forsaken in the desolate steppes, in their separation from the mother church in [[Prussia|Prussia]].


= Bibliography =
Dyck, Arnold. <em class="gameo_bibliography">Mennonitische Auslese. </em>(No. 1, 1951).

Epp, David H. <em class="gameo_bibliography">Die chortitzer Mennoniten: Versuch einer Darstellung des Entwicklungsganges derselben. </em>Odessa, 1889. Reprinted Steinbach, MB: Mennonitische Post : Delbert F. Plett, 1984.

Friesen, Peter M. <em class="gameo_bibliography">Die Alt-Evangelische Mennonitische Brüderschaft in Russland (1789-1910) im Rahmen der mennonitischen Gesamtgeschichte</em>. Halbstadt: Verlagsgesellschaft "Raduga", 1911: 267, 276, 279 f..

Friesen, Peter M. <em class="gameo_bibliography">The Mennonite Brotherhood in Russia (1789-1910), </em>trans. J. B. Toews and others. Fresno, CA: Board of Christian Literature [M.B.], 1978, rev. ed. 1980.


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