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We are a caring, conservative congregation in the Village of Bergen, New York. We enjoy living out our faith by ministering not only to our own, but to those in and around the community. We sponsor a number of Missionaries and participate in short term Mission Trips.
VISION
Bergen Evangelical Presbyterian Church is called to service-oriented communication of the gospel to the elderly and youth of Bergen, through relationships with mature Christians in the congregation.
We are an Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC). The EPC is both evangelical and Presbyterian. We are evangelical in our zeal for the gospel, as well as evangelism, missions, and living obediently as followers of Jesus. At the same time, we are rooted deeply in the Protestant Reformation.
WE BELIEVE
As members of the EPC we hold to Seven Essentials of Our Faith. The Motto of the EPC is:
“In Essentials Unity,
In Non-essentials Liberty,
in All Things Charity;
Truth in Love,”
HISTORY
The First Presbyterian Church of Bergen celebrated its 200 year anniversary in 2007. For a church with a such a long history, it is very hard to pick the most important events. We’ve picked three that focus on what our church is today.
Around 1826 the young church decided to construct a new church building. Conflicts within the church over some of the details of the building program, including a $25 purchase of lumber, caused the young church to split. Ultimately both of the bodies built meeting places. The wonderful part of the story is that the division between the two bodies healed, in part due to the spiritual revival in Rochester during the 1830’s under Charles Finney and others. In 1854 the two bodies decided to join back together and form a single church. One of the two church buildings was moved on logs about ½ mile and placed next to the building in the main street of Bergen and was used as a social hall. These two buildings, now actually connected, still serve the church. In 1995-8 the fellowship hall was renovated and additional classrooms were added.
Some of the current members of the church point to the spiritual revival in 1970 and the week-long tent revival meetings that continued for several summers as the beginning of their committed walk with the Lord. The tent meetings ended years ago, but there have been two long-lasting effects on the church. The thirst for the Word of God and faithful obedience are characteristics of the members of the church as they have been taught from generation to generation. In addition, the different churches in Bergen continue to work and fellowship together on joint VBS, sports camps, Christmas concerts, and Easter sunrise services.
After years of struggling with the PCUSA, in 2012 our church decided to leave the denomination. The Session researched many possible choices for a new denominational home and finally decided on the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Through respectful negotiation with the PCUSA the church was able to come to a reasonable settlement for the price of the building. In a single day, the congregation was able to raise the cash and pledges for the amount needed for the purchase. The transition occurred with a spirit of unanimity in the congregation, without tension or division. On January 24, 2016 we as a church celebrated that the last paperwork was completed and we were officially an EPC church.