The man and woman thought to be involved in the accident on Lake Hauroko are Michael Goodson and Rosemary Spiewak, both parishioners of St Michael and All Angels in Christchurch.
The parish was notified on Tuesday that two of its members had been reported as missing.
A woman's body was found at the lake on Saturday. A life-jacket and items from the boat the pair had been on have also been found.
Police are still searching for a missing man.
However, a police spokeswoman said weather conditions and high lake levels meant the search remained suspended today.
Their four-metre boat was reported missing on Lake Hauroko on Friday, May 31.
Police said yesterday they believed they got into difficulty nearly a week before they were reported missing.
St Michael and All Angels Vicar’s Warden Michael Graveston said the pair, who were known to be good friends, were active members of the parish.
He said a relative of Mr Goodson had notified police last week that the pair were overdue from their trip and were then reported missing.
He said Mr Goodson had been a member of the parish for decades and "has a very good heart".
Ms Spiewak was also a long-time member of the parish.
"Rosemary had quite a strong intellect and known to be a deep thinker," Mr Graveston said.
St Michael and All Angels Vicar father Chris Orczy said, "The parish is in the process of trying to get our heads around it now . . . we can be okay that they’re with god, but we will miss them."
Search co-ordinator Sergeant Ian Martin, of Invercargill, said a future search involving divers could be possible.
"We will still contemplate a search using divers but ideally we would like the lake level to drop a bit."
Sgt Martin said more debris had been found on the beach during a search at the mouth of the Wairaurahiri River.
A helicopter search discovered an item in the river but that was later found to be unrelated.
He said police had not yet released any names so could not confirm who the pair are.
Sgt Martin had previously said the pair, who were in their 60s, had headed out on a camping trip on May 26.
The boat was reported missing five days later and their names were not written in the Caroline Hut visitors book where they were expected to visit on their trip.
