Two people, including the boy, had been confirmed dead in Welcome Bay, while six people were known to be missing in a separate landslide on Thursday at a campground at the base of Mt Maunganui following heavy rain.
St Peter's Anglican Church musical director Chalium Poppy said the boy - who died with a relative in a house in Welcome Bay Rd - was due to come to a piano lesson at the Mt Maunganui church on Thursday.
"It's all just very raw, like it's just happening, there are still people that are missing," he said.
"We're just responding the only way that… the church knows how, and that's to sort of open up our doors, provide sanctuary, provide a place for people to come and pray and sit in silence and light a candle. We're here to serve the community, so that's exactly what we do, and especially in times of need."
Poppy said the boy only recently began learning how to play piano with him.
"He was just really bright and incredibly talkative… asked lots of really great questions, like a really cool, sort of inquisitive mind, and obviously talented musically."
A Chinese woman, believed to be the boy's grandmother, also died when a landslip hit the house they were in.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the losses were "deeply shattering" and New Zealand was "heavy with grief".
