DES MOINES, Dec. 30 -- Republican rivals Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney took their battle over Christian voters to the pews as both attended services while their campaigns spanned Iowa in a final Sunday pitch to evangelicals.

With Christian conservatives expected to make up as much as 40 percent of Republican caucusgoers, Romney dispatched surrogates to meet with pastors in the far corners of Iowa, hoping to blunt Huckabee's momentum among evangelicals. On Friday, three national religious leaders backing Huckabee -- Tim LaHaye, Michael Farris and Rick Scarborough -- convened a conference call with Iowa pastors to urge them to use Sunday's services to drive up participation by Christian voters, who polls suggest favor the former Arkansas governor by comfortable margins.

In dozens of interviews at churches before and after Sunday services, many voters said they intend to caucus for Huckabee on Thursday, citing what they said is the former Baptist minister's strong commitment to his faith and a candor that they said is rare among politicians. Others said that they intend to support Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, or that they are undecided, reflecting the up-for-grabs nature of the religious-conservative vote this year.

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