While Big Island churches continue to tally their losses, several pastors have found reasons to praise their makers as, alternately, both blessings and curses abounded in the wake of last Sunday's earthquakes.

One reader from Kailua reported a large turnout for candle-lit morning services in the sanctuary at his church. Several others reported canceled services.

The United Church of Christ, the largest Protestant denomination in Hawai'i, has been calculating the damage sustained to its churches, said Diane Weible, UCC minister of communication.

While the quake's major damage was centered on the Big Island, its effects were felt throughout the Island chain. At Central Union on O'ahu, the clock on the steeple stopped, reported David Hirono, adding: "We've got to fix that. Some stuff fell off the ceiling at Atherton Chapel, too."

Weible said they're bracing for more reports of structural damage.

"Engineers have gone out to several churches to check (for structural damage)," she said.

If they can't get into their sanctuaries, UCC churches have chosen to continue services tomorrow in other buildings on their properties. That's true for interim Pastor George Baybrook of historic Kalahikiola Congregational, the Kapa'au church whose crumbled rock walls are now one of the iconic images of the quake. CNN and other news stations across the world flashed photos of Kalahikiola during their weekend reports.

Still, there's reason for gratitude.

"We're so thankful no one died or was hurt worse," said Weible.

Most church- and temple-goers were either still sleeping or getting ready for services when the quake hit just after 7 a.m. Sunday, but some felt the shaking, rattling and rolling right in their places of worship.

The 7 a.m. Mass had just begun at St. Ann in Kane'ohe when the first big quake hit; the Rev. Clyde Guerreiro said the lectors were between the first and second scriptural readings. The second quake occurred during the Gospel reading.

"Today's theme is 'We trust in God,' " Guerreiro extemporaneously sermonized a few minutes later. "We are all sitting here. Either we trust God, or we are a bunch of baboozes. I think we all trust in God."

That Mass had to be cut short when the power went out; later Masses were canceled.

"The church is completely dependent on electricity," Guerreiro noted ruefully.

Other clergy were still grappling with the aftershocks, both geologic and emotional. While other churches have offered space for members of the historic Kalahikiola, interim Pastor George Baybrook said his congregation wants to stick close to home. Congregants moved items from the church to set up services in the nearby hall, which wasn't damaged.

His office in the back of the church was the worst-hit area, he said, and they haven't been able to salvage much.

"No faxes or e-mail — some people would say that's a blessing," Baybrook deadpanned.

Though "it was a miracle I even got here" last Sunday morning — he dodged huge boulders and debris on the road from his Waimea home to Kohala — Baybrook broke down in tears when he saw the crumbled walls. Other congregants are grappling with the loss, too.

"It's testing their faith," he said.

He switched his sermon — originally on Corninthians — to Psalm 46.

"God is our refuge and strength and everpresent help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear if the Earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with its turmoil."

"That's literally what happened," Baybrook said. "I feel God gave me that passage."

And he's working up something special for Sunday: "It's going to be a real significant service," he said.