The village of Soham felt violated by the events surrounding the disappearance of the 10-year-old schoolgirls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, the vicar of St Andrew's Parish Church told his congregation in Cambridgeshire yesterday.
The Rev Tim Alban Jones said: "This last week has continued to be a time that no one could have imagined, still less could the people of Soham have thought it would happen here. Only one week ago we could not have thought that we would be sitting here this morning facing the worst case scenario.
"In spite of all our hopes and prayers this is what we have all been fearing and we now are staring in the face the outcome which we were most dreading," he said.
"The past fortnight has rocked our whole community. There is not a person in Soham who is unmoved by what has happened. Certainly there have been many tears shed by friend and stranger alike. The whole town feels in some way violated by the disappearance of Jessica and Holly," he added.
Up to 500 people of different faiths attended the 9.30 a.m service - normally the congregation would number just 50. Many of those who came carried floral tributes for the two missing girls, to whom a shrine has been erected in the church.
No sooner was the service under way than thunder, lightning and heavy rains began, adding to the poignancy of the occasion.
The whole community was in a profound state of shock, Mr Alban Jones said. "This sense of shock and disbelief has if anything deepened as time has gone by. The distressing and disturbing developments that we heard on the news yesterday mean that we are even more stunned and if possible sent people even deeper into shock. There are scarcely words available to sum up our sense of disbelief that this is all happening here in Soham."
Many in the congregation nodded in agreement when he said nobody could get the smiling faces of Jessica and Holly out of their heads.
"Throughout this dreadful fortnight we have had the image of Holly and Jessica etched on our minds. Pictures of their happy smiling faces have been displayed in just about every window in town.
"These two lovely girls have been our first thought in the morning and our last thought every night and as we have been thinking of these two delightful girls we have been constantly aware of the searing heart-rending agony that their parents have been going through."
He said the children's parents, Kevin and Nicola Wells and Leslie and Sharon Chapman, had borne themselves with a bravery and dignity that had won them tremendous admiration and respect.
"We cannot even begin to imagine how harrowing this nightmare must be for them."
The vicar said he was touched by the letters, phone calls and e-mails from all over the world that continued to pour in offering support and prayers to the families of Jessica and Holly and the people of Soham. "I know that the two families have been strengthened and sustained by the caring goodwill and support of the people of Soham and the world beyond."
He acknowledged that there were many questions which the world was asking at a time like this. There were no easy answers. In the readings, he said, Jesus listed some of the terrible things humans were capable of doing. "Sadly we in Soham know all too well an appalling example of the depravity to which humans can sink. Our hearts and minds have been focused on that, but we have also witnessed the other side of the coin of human action and behaviour.
"We have seen the enormous dignity and courage of the parents of Holly and Jessica. We have seen an outpouring of collective support and concern, and we have seen the diligence and determination of the police in their painstaking task."
The local Methodist minister, the Rev Alan Ashton, joined in the prayers. He prayed for "courage in the dark days that lie before us", for the families of Holly and Jessica - who were unable to attend - and for the police.