LITTLE EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J.—Pastors at Greentree Ministries Church tempered public expressions of anger over the beheading of U.S. contractor Paul M. Johnson Jr. in Saudi Arabia, by urging tolerance, according to the Associated Press.

A minister at the church where Johnson's sister worships spoke Sunday and noted the family's grief and struggle in the face of cruelty by Muslim extremists. Then Pastor Gene Huber told the congregation that turning to their faith in Christ would "enable them to become champions of grace in a world of wickedness."

Johnson's family did not attend the service. They have remained in seclusion since Johnson was killed last week.

Senior Pastor Kyle Huber, who has assisted the family throughout the ordeal, told the AP they are "doing well in what is something no one can be prepared for."

Pastors in churches throughout the region also encouraged tolerance after signs of anti-Islamic sentiment were displayed. "Islamics better wake up and start thinking about tomorrow," one sign read near Johnson's sister's house.

Nearby in Johnson's native Eagleswood Township, Phil Galasso posted on a utility pole near his house a cardboard sign that reads, "Stamp out Islam,'' and depicts a hand-drawn boot over a crescent and star.

He said Johnson's death and the similar fate of Nicholas Berg, a Pennsylvania man beheaded in Iraq in May, impacted him.

"I'm getting a little fed up with the mindless violence against civilians who had nothing to do with the war in the Middle East,'' Galasso said.