Many local residents have enjoyed the opportunities to explore the homes of community members during the Holiday House Tour and Harvest Kitchen Tour. Now there is a chance to explore Chestnut Hill churches.

This month, during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, three Chestnut Hill churches are opening their doors as part of “The Word on the Streets,” an ecumenical sermon series sponsored by Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary’s The Catholic Preaching Institute. In its inaugural year, the series aims to inspire Christian discipleship that radiates within and beyond the local community. This is a three–day celebration of unity, hope, and shared discipleship.

Over the course of three evening prayer services, clergy from one Christian tradition will preach in the church of a neighboring denomination, offering a visible and meaningful witness to shared faith and common mission. The series will be from Jan. 20-22. Participating churches include the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, Our Mother of Consolation Catholic Church, and St. Paul Episcopal Church.

The Rev. Tom Dailey, O.S.F.S., is the John Cardinal Foley Chair of Homiletics and Social Communications for Saint Charles Borromeo. He lives at Our Mother of Consolation and considers Chestnut Hill the perfect place for the series and the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity the perfect time. Observed each January by Christian communities around the world, the week is designed to draw people of faith together across denominational lines.

“During the Week of Christian Unity, we celebrate what we have in common in our Christian prayer and we pray for the unity of the one church,” Dailey explained.

“This offers a chance to experience different forms of preaching in the Christian churches and to experience where our faith is similar and what we have in common. If anything, the word of God is clearly what we all have in common.”

Each service in the series will follow a similar format and focuses on the biblical text selected for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and/or a contemporary social concern relevant to the participating congregations. Through shared worship, preaching, prayer and music, the series seeks to deepen relationships among local churches and encourage collaborative Christian witness in the wider neighborhood.

The name of the series, “The Word on the Streets,” represents what Dailey hopes will be the outcome of participating in the series. “The variety of preachers will give different perspectives,” he said. “Hopefully, the series will provide inspiration to take this faith of ours to the streets.”

The three–night series will be hosted by three Chestnut Hill congregations. On Tuesday, Jan. 20, at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church, the preacher will be the Rev. Ellen Williams Hensle, senior minister and head of staff of the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill. On Wednesday, Jan. 21, at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, the sermon will be delivered by the Rev. John Fisher, O.S.F.S., pastor of Our Mother of Consolation Catholic Church. On Thursday, Jan. 22, at Our Mother of Consolation Catholic Church, the Very Rev. Eric Hungerford, rector of Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church, will preach.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is at 22 E. Chestnut Hill Ave.; The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill at 8855 Germantown Ave; and Our Mother of Consolation at 9 E. Chestnut Hill Ave. For more information or to learn more about the Catholic Preaching Institute, visit scs.edu/preaching.