“Will you pray for Officer Darren Wilson?”

Next, the Rev. Traci Blackmon asked her congregation a question not often heard on the turbulent streets of neighboring Ferguson, which remains tense with fear, anger and uncertainty as the conclusion of a grand jury investigation into Brown’s Aug. 9 death looms ever closer — perhaps as soon as Monday.

“Will you pray for Officer Darren Wilson?” Blackmon asked.

Hearing the name of Brown’s shooter, the congregants remained silent.

Blackmon, who on the previous night had led a prayer vigil for those calling for Wilson’s arrest, implored her flock again:

“Will you pray for his family? Because their lives will never be the same.”

Finally, one woman answered: “Yes.”