The family were attending the christening of a baby girl at the Santiago Apostol church in Atzala, Puebla state when the building collapsed.
Assistant priest Lorenzo Sanchez, who escaped the building, told the Associated Press: "It was a scene of horror, sadness with most of the people inside the church dying."
Mr Sanchez was among only three people to survive the church collapse on Tuesday lunchtime. The girl's father and a priest also escaped. Four children are among the dead.
The incident prompted people to arrive at the scene with shovels, pickaxes and chains for helping clear the debris. Across Puebla state, more than 40 people are now known to have died.
The nationwide death toll from the 7.1-magnitude tremor has been raised to 230, while rescue workers in Mexico City (pictured above and below) continue frantic yet delicate efforts to rescue a young girl alive under the rubble of a collapsed school.
According to the city's Social Development Department, 52 people had been retrieved alive from debris left in the wake of the disaster, the second major earthquake to strike Mexico in a matter of days.
Three days of national mourning has been declared by President of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto who wrote on Twitter: "Every minute counts to save lives."