Local officials and religious leaders led a community prayer Tuesday, calling for peace a day after a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri decided that the police officer who fatally shot black teenager Michael Brown would not be indicted.

Religious leaders from various faith groups in Evanston, including Christian pastors, rabbis and a Buddhist high priest, gathered with about 200 members of the community for the Interfaith Vigil for Ferguson and Service of Solidarity at the Unitarian Church of Evanston.

The service included religious readings, prayers, songs and a remembrance service, in which attendees held candles in silence for four and a half minutes to represent the four and a half hours Brown’s body remained in the streets after the shooting.

“We have all been burned by flames of violence, injustice and racism,” the Rev. Dr. Karen Mosby of the Second Baptist Church said to the packed crowd. “We come tonight to do what people of faith do. We turn to the divine. We pray to remind ourselves that we are not alone.”

At Northwestern, students gathered in a forum hosted by For Members Only to discuss their reactions to the events in Ferguson.

About 300 people crowded into Harris Hall for the event, said Communication freshman Robert Cunningham, who attended. The event was closed to the press.

“It was very emotional at times,” Cunningham said. “There was a lot of anger in the room.”

He said attendees shared their opinions on the lack of an indictment in Ferguson and discussed “how they could channel this anger into something productive to find a solution.” He called the event “very necessary” and said it “brought everyone together.”

Cunningham added the events in Ferguson “saddened” him.

“I don’t like when people say it’s not about race,” he said. “It’s about race.”

Students have planned a “die-in” demonstration for Wednesday morning, inviting people to lie on the road near The Arch to protest violence against minorities.

Ferguson officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Brown, 18, on Aug. 9. Protests took place across the country on Monday following the grand jury’s decision that there was not sufficient evidence to file any indictments against Wilson, and continued in some cities on Tuesday.

“We who believe in freedom cannot rest,” hundreds of Evanston residents said in unison at the vigil, repeating Mosby, of the Second Baptist Church, in reciting lyrics from the composition “Ella’s Song.”

Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl and police Chief Richard Eddington gave statements at the service.

“Evanston is more than a city: Evanston is a possibility, a hope, a dream,” Tisdahl said. “All of you being here tonight, upon that hope and as a part of that dream … we can band together and swear (racial injustice) will not happen in our community.”

Mosby organized the event with the Rev. Bret Lortie of the Unitarian Church of Evanston, the Rev. Warren Smith of the Fischer Memorial AME Zion Church and the Rev. Betty Landis of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.

The four realized Friday the importance of such a gathering, Mosby said. They reached out to members of Interfaith Action of Evanston, a group of religious leaders, and the Evanston Pastors’ Fellowship, a Christian pastor group, over the weekend, Mosby said.

“Tonight, this is a house of all faiths,” Lortie said.

During the service, Lortie asked the audience to call out the names of those they care about and those for whom they pray.

Evanston resident Eileen Heineman called out the name of a young man she knew whose life was damaged by prison and the unjust system that put him there, she said.

“Our criminal justice has failed a lot of our citizens,” she said. “(Prayers like these) give hope to those who feel like there’s no reason to fight for racial equity.”

Although Heineman was surprised that Wilson was not indicted, others felt differently.

Dale Griffin said he has served on a jury before and although he was saddened by the jury’s decision, he could see legally why Wilson was not indicted even though his actions were wrong.

“I thought certainly you can’t just shoot someone and not be guilty of something,” he said. “But people on juries take what they do very seriously, and I think they did the right thing.”

Sgt. Dennis Leaks, who attended the gathering along with about 10 other Evanston police officers, said he was disappointed about the decision.

“As a black man growing up in Chicago, I’m not surprised because I’m used to the pain,” he said. “The problem with the black community is that we’re so used to not receiving justice. It seems it never works out for us.”

Mosby drafted a letter last week calling for prayer ahead of the grand jury decision in Ferguson. She was able to gather more than 30 signatures from Evanston religious leaders before the letter was published Nov. 18.

Jeanne Kuang contributed reporting.

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