Detroit — The Archdiocese of Detroit is asking parishioners of parishes without a Catholic school to weigh in on the future of Catholic education through a survey asking for feedback on a range of school-related issues.

The anonymous survey is part of the archdiocese’s strategic planning process for Catholic schools, which was launched in December 2017. A previous survey was sent to faculty, staff, students, parents and parishioners at each parish- or archdiocesan-sponsored school within the six-county archdiocese.

By asking parishioners at parishes without a Catholic school for their feedback, the archdiocese hopes to emphasize that Catholic education isn’t just an apostolate of the few, but “is the responsibility of all parishes and all Christ’s faithful,” according to a letter from Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron announcing the survey.

The planning process “first requires a deep reflection and discernment around Unleash the Gospel, and then sound evaluation and analysis of available data, around enrollment, demographics, census information, test scores, etc.,” Archbishop Vigneron wrote.

Unleash the Gospel, the archbishop’s 2017 pastoral letter, provides the foundation for the entire project, which “calls on each of our Archdiocesan schools to engage in a process that will set a clear vision for their school going forward, re-envisioning the way in which we currently operate our schools and to consider bold ideas to strengthen Catholic education” in the archdiocese, the archbishop wrote.

The survey, which can be accessed online until March 25, will help the archdiocese “gain valuable insights from the faithful who belong to parishes without schools,” the archbishop wrote. “It is vitally important to be aware of how you, the faithful, regard our Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Detroit.”

A link to the electronic survey was sent to parishioners whose email addresses are on file, and parishes have been encouraged to post the link to their websites and social media. Paper surveys are not being distributed.

Take the survey

Take the Archdiocese of Detroit’s “Catholic School Survey for Non-School Parishes” by March 25 by visiting surveymonkey.com/r/NonSchoolParishSurvey. Or find more information about the Catholic schools strategic planning process on the Archdiocese of Detroit’s website, aod.org/schoolsurvey.