Inter-family Marriage in our Church

My wife and I began attending church at Bethel Bible Fellowship Church in Emmaus, PA in 1976 – about a year after moving to Pennsylvania. It wasn’t too long before I became aware of the fact that a number of the members of the church were related to each other. I’m a pretty detail-oriented individual, so I began to catalog all the relationships I discovered in my head.

Perhaps a year later I jokingly criticized the then pastor, Harvey Fritz, about nepotism for his having hired a relative as his church secretary. The church secretary was Ardella Bray. He looked at me puzzled and said, “Ardella’s not my relative.” I replied, “Yes, she is – she’s your son-in-law’s cousin’s mother-in-law’s cousin!”

Let me unpack that rather complex relationship. Pastor Fritz’s daughter, Becky, married Rich Kauffman. One of Rich’s many cousins in the church was Bill Schlonecker. Bill had married Pat Wentz, and her mother was Orpha Wentz. Orpha’s cousin was Ardella Bray.

At the time I estimated that between a third and a half of the church members were related to one another in some fashion. Since that time nearly 40 years ago the church has grown and the percentage has dropped. But as young people grow up and get married, there are constantly new family relationships being established as well. So, as best I can from my memory, let me document all the families that are related to one another in one giant spider web.

The center of the web is the Kauffman family. Forty years ago, the family patriarch was Edgar Kauffman who was still living. He and several of his children were members. Edgar and all but one of his children have since passed on, but their legacy still remains. Below are listed all the families and their relationship – either directly to the Kauffman family, or to others in the list. For convenience I have listed the families in alphabetical order as there are so many of them.

Each of the family groups may have one or more current families in it as male children in that family have gotten married and started families of their own (for example, Davies family includes Bob & Peg, Larry & Michelle, Todd & Deb). Also, this does not mean that everyone in the church with that last name is part of this family group (for example, Tom Kuhns is not related to Mark and Jeff Kuhns who are brothers). Finally, some of the individuals listed have either passed on, or are no longer living in the Lehigh Valley, but their offspring or relatives are still part of Bethel).

Bednar – Sarah Bednar’s maiden name is Behnke

Behnke – Adam Behnke married the step-granddaughter of Vivian Kuhns/Foster-Biddle
Blackman - Terry Blackman's maiden name was Sell
Branning - Gloria is a niece of Frieda Howerter

Bray – Ardella Bray is a cousin to Orpha Wentz
Brobst - Raymond Brobst married Florence Delong
Bruder - Bettie Bruder's son is Gary Snydeman (former husband of Deb Snydeman)
Christman - Matthew Christman is a 6th cousin of Arlene Shollenberger/Helen Nyemscek/etc.

Cole – Mary Jane Cole’s maiden name is Kauffman

Davies – Peg Davies is a cousin to Nancy Hilbert

Delong – Karen Delong’s maiden name is Schlonecker

Diehl – June Diehl is the sister of Ardella Bray
Fitting - Jennie's grandmother was Edna Gehman, a 4th cousin of Ruth [Gehman] Hilbert

Fleming – Kay Fleming’s maiden name is Schlonecker
Frederick - Linda Frederick married Gerald Seibert

Fritz – Becky Fritz married Richard Kauffman
Harley - Dorothy Harley's maiden name was Brobst
Hause - Jeannie Hause's maiden name was Sell
Henry -- Margaret [Miller] Henry's maiden name was Miller[2]

Heyer – Chrissy Heyer married Mike Kauffman

Hilbert – Donna Hilbert married Steve Kauffman; Cheryl Hilbert married Dave Wigfield
Houseknecht - Charles Houseknecht's sister-in-law was a third cousin of Margaret [Miller] Henry
Howerter - Frieda Howerter is the second cousin of Leonard Hilbert
Karch - Cindy Karch is the sister of Andy Miller

Kuhns – Vivian Kuhns’ maiden name was Kauffman
Lafaver - Kim Lafaver's maiden name was Sell

Love – Bethany Love is the granddaughter of June Diehl
Measler - Lori Measler's maiden name was Shoemaker

Mengel – Marge Mengel’s maiden name was Kauffman
Miller - Andy Miller's 6th cousin was Raymond Brobst
Miller[2] -- Ray Miller's cousin is Gerald Schlonecker
Nyemscek - Helen Nyemscek's aunt is married to Gerald Schlonecker's uncle, Kelly Nyemscek's maiden name is Schlonecker
Plarr - Rose Plarr's maiden name was Miller[2]
Redfield - Michelle Redfield's maiden name is Reynolds
Reynolds - Sue Reynolds' maiden name is Nyemscek
Russell - Kim Russell married Matthew Christman, Alan Russell is a 7th cousin of Bob Davies

Schaeffer – Sally Schaeffer’s maiden name is Kauffman
Schantz - Glenn Schantz is a cousin of Andrea [Schantz] Bray

Schlonecker – Dolly Schlonecker’ maiden name is Kauffman (she is the last of the surviving children of Edgar Kauffman)

Schoen – Denise Schoen married Chico Schlonecker
Shoemaker - Marlene Shoemaker's maiden name is Houseknecht
Shollenberger - Arlene Shollenberger's aunt is married to Gerald Schlonecker's uncle
Seibert - Lisa Delong's maiden name was Seibert
Sell - Dolores Sell's maiden name is Houseknecht

Snydeman – Deb Snydeman’s maiden name is Schaeffer

Stortz – Lillian Stortz’s maiden name was Kauffman
Stortz - Jennie Stortz's mother was Lillian Christman

Wentz – Pat Wentz married Bill Schlonecker

Wigfield – Liz Wigfield married Jeff Kuhns
Zikanovi - Melissa Zikanova's maiden name was Hause

The members of these families who are currently attending the church number approximately 100, or about 15% of the current attendees. Since these families are among those who have been around for many years and they are more apt to be church members, they also represent about 20% of the church membership. This is less than 40 years ago, but still a significant number.

There are other family groups that are not [yet?] connected to the Kauffman “web”:

Hoffman, Atkins, Burkhardt