Triple Double
The Rev. John Pistorius, pastor of Christ's Family Church in Chicora recently helped preside over a matrimonial hat trick.
He helped wed three couples at sunrise outside on the overlook above East Brady Nov. 5. Sunrise that day was at 7:45 a.m. and the temperature was hovering around 25 degrees Fahrenheit.
“It was the most unusual circumstances I have ever been a part of when it came to a wedding,” said Pistorius who officiated the triple ceremony with Pastor Bob Hurd of the Whitestown Road Baptist Church, 409 Whitestown Road.
That train of unusual circumstances was started a little over two months ago when Eric Kradel of Butler met Rachel Williams online.
“She lived in Missouri and we met online,” said Kradel. “Her husband was a Truth Seeker, and when he passed, she felt guilty.”
Kradel said his future fiancee started watching a YouTube channel that her husband had watched.
“I watched the channel and I put something on there on a topic that is very rare. She responded and asked 'What can you tell me about this?'” said Kradel.
Their online meeting turned into something deeper, he said, and two months and three weeks later they decided to get married.
Kradel said he had lived in Butler for all of his 38 years, but it was as if God was telling him to get married and move to Missouri.
Once he decided to get married, Pistorius said, Eric Kradel relayed his plans to his sister, Tanya Stevenson, who was in a longtime relationship with her boyfriend, William Farrier.“I told her I was getting married and moving out of state and 'I encourage you to get married,'” said Kradel.“It was crazy, but she said, 'I'm getting married,'” said Kradel.“I was already engaged. I hadn't set a date yet. He said we should do it together,” said Tanya Farrier of Center Township.They decided they wanted to get married at sunrise because Rachel Kradel loves to take pictures of the sunrise.“They wanted a sunrise. What better way to start your lives together but to start it at sunrise of a new day?” said Pistorius.“It was Eric and Rachel's idea to have it there and also at sunrise,” said Tanya Farrier.“It was cold. I had Cuddl Duds under my dress and a cardigan,” she said.Pistorius brought in Hurd to help him with the triple ceremony.Pistorius said, “Pastor Bob and I are good friends. We've collaborated on a number of things. We've also done other services together.“We just wanted to show solidarity among pastors,” he said.They plan to work together on the upcoming adult baptisms of five people, including the newly married Tanya and William Farrier.
But there was still another couple to be slotted into the ceremony, James Greenawalt and Abigail Pistorius of West Sunbury.Theirs was a special case, and not just because Abigail was the daughter of Pistorius.“They wanted to be married a year or so ago but lost their own wedding because of COVID,” said Pistorius. “I said 'I have this double wedding.' They didn't want to wait any longer.”“I had no idea who they were, but we were happy to have them,” said Eric Kradel. “They showed up and joined in.”Tanya Farrier said, “It was kind of last minute. I didn't know them.”But first, Rachel Kradel had to drive the 12-and-a-half hours from Missouri with her three sons and two daughters swapping off driving duties.“I put on my wedding gown at Tanya's house. I met Eric for the first time in reality at the ceremony,” the soon-to-be Rachel Kradel said. “We did a lot of video calls.”
The weather didn't cooperate, said Hurd, it was foggy and cold.“The fog was so thick I drove past twice,” said Hurd. “But it was outside, it was romantic and they were young and in love.”The three couples skipped the walk down the aisle, standing together before the ceremony.Pistorius said, “We married them together all at once. They took their vows one after another standing together at the overlook.”“There were no rehearsals, we just went with it,” he added.Tanya Farrier said after the ministers made opening remarks, each couple recited their wedding vows to each other. The ceremony took about 45 minutes, she said.“They were all together in line,” Hurd said. “We did the vows separately. We made sure we didn't marry anybody to their father.”
Pistorius borrowed a 20-foot-by-12-foot tent his church uses in food distribution events.“I had a propane heater, and I forgot to fill the heater; and it didn't work, so everyone was pretty well bundled up,” he said. “Two of the women were in white gowns and one was dressed as warm as she could.”After the ceremony, the three couples and their nearly 35 guests went to a breakfast reception at the Korner Restaurant in Rimersburg where Rachel Kradel's children performed gospel music as entertainment.“The next day, I packed up my entire life in a 15-foot U-Haul with my car towed behind, both stacked to the top,” said Eric Kradel.Tanya Farrier said it was very foggy at the overlook during the ceremony but that didn't detract from the event.“It was perfect. It was chilly, but we survived it. We wanted it small and intimate. Everyone who should have been there was there,” she said.
