Leaders from a wide range of faiths stood before a group of roughly seventy people to mourn the murder of nine worshippers in Charleston and to call for peace, unity and change.
Reverend Jared Rardin of South Congregational said now is the time for people to come together to discuss racism and tolerance.
"It's a question of balance and consideration," said Rardin, "and I think in this day of sound bites and 'we need to fix it now,' and short memories that we really need to be about having community conversations and addressing the ills and the ailments that really do face African Americans and people of color in general."
It's a prescription that people like Becky Josephson, a high school teacher who attended the vigil, agree with.
"I felt a real need to come together with people of faith," Josephson said, "and also people who are wondering what we can do about the problem of racism in our country and this seemed like a good starting point. But just a starting point."
Meetings such as this, Reverend Rardin concluded, are a place to gather and begin conversations. The hope is that those talks will continue outside of the walls of worship.
