Give your input on future of city parishes by taking ‘Seek the City’ survey

The Archdiocese of Baltimore is offering an online survey in six languages to gather more input on its “Seek the City to Come” urban pastoral planning initiative.

Seek the City was launched in the fall to help discern how to make more vibrant parishes and better use resources at all 57 city parishes and a few near-in parishes in Baltimore County. 

Five prayerful discussions and two virtual sessions engaged 230 people over the last several months. Archdiocesan leaders have visited more than half the pastorates in the initiative, and parishes have also been conducting their own listening sessions. 

“We’re hoping the online survey will help reach those who feel disenfranchised from the church and those who may be non-practicing or former Catholics,” said Geri Royale Byrd, director of Seek the City. “It offers a more accessible way to provide your opinion and thoughts. We’re calling it a low-barrier way to engage with Seek the City.”

Byrd said the survey is open to both those inside and outside the city.

“Just because you belong to a parish that’s in the county doesn’t mean you don’t have a concern or passion for what’s happening to your brothers and sisters in the City of Baltimore,” she said. “Everybody is united. All voices are important.”

Some of the kinds of questions the survey asks include topics related to the mission of city ministry and envisioning an ideal Catholic parish.

“We want to obtain quantifiable data to augment or validate the other input we’ve received,” Byrd said.  

Auxiliary Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., urban vicar, said the survey is being offered in English, Spanish, French, Polish, Tagalog and Vietnamese. 

“In a sense, we’re putting the city church under the microscope,” Bishop Lewandowski said, “and we’re looking at it in all its detail. Some of it is glorious and awesome – really inspiring and hope-filled. And other parts are worrisome. When you’re under the microscope, you see what works and what doesn’t work. You see that we can’t keep doing things the way we’ve been doing them.”

Data collected in the online survey will be synthesized in May with other input collected by Seek the City. Seek the City leaders are planning a large gathering at the end of June to celebrate the end of the first phase of the Seek the City initiative and to launch the “visioning phase.” 

The survey is open through the end of April and may be accessed at archbalt.org/seekthecity.

Email George P. Matysek Jr. at gmatysek@CatholicReview.org

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