For the 17th year in a row, the congregations of eight mainstream Christian churches in Newton will participate in a joint Christmas event Sunday, beginning at 3 p.m.

Rita Baker, a member of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, has been helping to organize the annual Christmas Walk since its inception in 1996. In fact, none of the original clergy members who helped get the tradition started are still around today.

“I guess you could say I’m the only one left,” she said. “It started out just as an idea to help create some unity among the Christian churches. Newton is fairly unique in that it has eight mainstream churches all within a three- or four-block radius of downtown.”