People packed the South Norwalk Community Center Thursday to celebrate the National Day of Prayer.

Norwalk Prays put together the program, which had representatives from local churches, the city of Norwalk and others offering prayers on topics like forgiveness, faith and kindness.

The broader theme for this year's gathering was "unity."

Organizers say seeing past people's differences is crucial to solving problems, both on the national and local level.

Norwalk Prays was set to host one more event Thursday night at Cornerstone Community Church on West Avenue.

The National Day of Prayer has been observed every year since 1952, when the practice was formalized by the U.S. Congress.