There were tears in church yesterday, but laughter too, as the community picked itself up and prayed for the dead, their families, and the people in their own parish areas, many of whom were entering a sixth day without power or water.
Around the city, signs of a community rallying to help its members in need are everywhere.
On many streets, signs show householders offering water, or use of showers, toilets or telephones.
One sign yesterday read "free bananas".
Residents eat together at barbecues in sludge-covered streets.
Thousands of CanterburyUniversity student volunteers spend days digging sludge out of the driveways and yards of people they have never met.
Armies of people have volunteered to help the Salvation Army and Red Cross visit homes to check on residents' needs.
In Dallington, about 60 Rangiora High School pupils shovel silt from the streets.
People are constantly offering home baking and hot drinks.
A group from Rangiora is operating a flying food service, bringing in hot food several times a day to welfare centres by helicopter.
Small businesses are providing hot drinks, milk and food to workers and residents.
Everywhere, the young are helping the old and the strong are helping the not-so-strong clean up their city and survive.
In Basset St, Burwood, 73-year-old Wilfred Metzger was overwhelmed with emotion when a group of seven students appeared from out of the blue to help him clear his driveway.
Shortly afterwards, two women - teachers whose school was closed - and two men from across the road joined in.
"It's marvellous. It'll be done in an hour.
"It would have taken me a while longer," Mr Metzger said.
One of the men, Dion Curline, who decided it was "no use sitting at home watching telly", said he had been working since 9am.
He went around the corner to help a friend clear a drive and found almost every household needed some help.
"I'm trying to get to that church over there actually, because I know they're putting on lunch."
In Aranui, Brent Jury and Julie Batchelor, from Cust, near Rangiora, who joined that town's major quake assistance effort, were handing out containers of water to people who had just been told they would be without power for at least two more weeks.
The pair said they had loaded up the horsefloat that morning and headed into the city because they felt they had to do something.
"You just feel for them. You feel guilty going around home, doing what you do.
"I've got lots of stuff I could be doing at home, but you've just got to do something to help them," Mr Jury said.
People were exceptionally grateful, but still conscious others might be worse off.
"They are very conservative about what they take.
"We are always having to push it on them."
In Breezes Rd, a builder, a contractor, a labourer and a farmer from Methven are feeding a constant stream of people from a free barbecue they have set up in a car park.
They are just four of dozens of rural people who have brought water tanks, barbecues, meat, wheelbarrows and shovels to the city to help out.
Contractor Dave Scammell said the friends answered a call on the radio to bring what they could to the city to help people out.
"Yep. Terry bowled over a couple of sheep on Wednesday and chopped [the meat] up, and some other fellas contributed some other meat."
Aranui resident Aaron Stevenson said the hot food was a welcome sight.
Like many others, he and two friends had gone out to help someone in their street dig out their vehicles that morning and ended up spending eight hours helping people in the area clear driveways and move items.
"Everyone needs some help," Mr Stevenson said.
"Everyone's doing their bit."
Others were finding solacein their community in other ways.
With many of the city's churches in ruins, others had bigger congregations than usual, enlarged by those who do not ordinarily attend church.
Jamie, who did not give his surname, was on Worcester St when the quake hit, and his girlfriend, Nicole, was in Cathedral Square.
She had seen horrible things, a very shaken Nicole said, and they had decided to seek solace at church.
"It's nice to have community around you, eh," Jamie said.
