Worshipers crowded the aisles and spilled out the doorway of a small storefront church in the Bronx, where a small congregation of about 50 swelled on Sunday with those from nearby churches who stopped to offer condolences.

There was weeping and singing for hours over the loss of the church’s leader, his wife and four others, all killed when their church van overturned several times on the New York Thruway near Woodbury, N.Y., on Saturday.

Some arrived at Joy Fellowship Church still uncertain of what had happened. John G. Williams, the church’s financial adviser, did not know who had been lost as he approached the tan brick building on East Gun Hill Road.

He took off his hat, spread his arms and asked, “What happened? I’m totally at a loss. This is unreal.”

Fourteen congregant had crowded into a 1997 Ford minivan on Saturday and headed toward Schenectady, N.Y., to celebrate the second anniversary of a church founded by a nephew of Simon White’s, the bishop at Joy Fellowship.

A little more than 40 miles north of New York City, near the Woodbury Common outlet stores, the rear tire on the driver’s side of the minivan blew out. The vehicle swerved off the pavement and rolled several times before coming to rest upside down on the grassy center meridian.

Six passengers in the van died, including Mr. White, 55; his wife, Zelda, 52; and Mr. White’s older sister, Elaine Reid, 65. Emergency workers transported the other eight, including the van’s driver, to three area hospitals. Several remained in critical condition on Sunday.

Inside the church, the 50 folding metal chairs were filled; more people stood. Color photographs of Mr. and Mrs. White and Titus McGhie, 66, a pastor who also died in the crash, were hung behind the simple wooden lectern that serves as a pulpit. A neighboring Seventh-day Adventist church parked a motor home outside and provided food for mourners.

Many members at Joy Fellowship grew up in Jamaica or have strong ties there. Mr. White was the fifth of 15 children in Jonestown, Jamaica, where he served in the military and as a police officer, friends said.

Several in attendance spoke of the influence Mr. White had on their lives.

Glenford Edwards, 55, said he had served in the Jamaican military with Mr. White. Their paths crossed years later in New York, when Mr. White found Mr. Edwards hanging out with drug dealers on a street corner in the Bronx.

“He got out of his car and said, ‘Come here! This doesn’t fit you,’ ” Mr. Edwards said.

Mr. White encouraged him to get baptized and later walked him into a job interview at a Home Depot. Mr. Edwards said he got the job.

Ewan Peart, 55, said when he was a young man, Mr. White inspired him to join the Jamaican police.

“I saw him pull up one day in a Ford Falcon, which is what Jamaican police officers drove,” Mr. Peart said. “He had a .38 Smith & Wesson and a shotgun, and he had this sense of authority. He said, ‘Listen, man, you can do this.’ ”

Mr. Peart said Mr. White had moved to New York more than 20 years ago and had become a minister. A father of eight, he had married Zelda after his first wife died.

Mr. Williams described the Whites as “true soul mates.”

“I found them to be rather inseparable,” he said. “Zelda was extremely supportive of her husband.”

Mr. McGhie, a minister at the church, who also grew up in Jamaica, had preached on a local religious radio station, Mr. Williams said. He had recently retired and was struggling with his health.

Evelyn Ferguson, a mother of seven who also died in the crash, moved to New York from Jamaica four years ago to help take care of her grandchildren, said June Thompson, her stepdaughter. One of her grandchildren, Tyler Davidson, 11, said Ms. Ferguson loved doing crossword puzzles and watching Oprah Winfrey’s talk show.

“She was a very sweet old lady,” he said. “She always stood up for what she believed.”

Another who died, Avril Murray, 65, had recently retired from a hospital job to spend time with her children and grandchildren. She had performed missionary work in Jamaica, where two of her children live. She traveled there as recently as last year to deliver clothing she had collected from Bronx businesses, said Mr. Peart’s wife, Donna.

The church group was on its way to Schenectady for a banquet celebrating the second anniversary of the 1st Light Christian Assemblies, which was founded by Ms. Reid’s son, Robert A. Reid.

Mr. Reid wept and was embraced by dozens of congregants during the service at Joy Fellowship on Sunday. He wiped away tears as he spoke of his mother.

“She was always giving,” he said. “She was always kind and always tried to take care of every little thing.”

Delores Tulloch, a member at Joy Fellowship, said she was taken aback that such a tragedy had happened on what should have been a festive day.

“It doesn’t make any sense to me, but I know God has a plan,” she said.

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