Letter from Bishop Earl Boyea to DuKette School, Flint

June 6, 2008

To the Principal, Faculty, Staff, Parents and Students of DuKette School:

With a view to strengthening the Catholic presence and mission around the diocese of Lansing, my predecessor began an intensive study of parishes and schools through the Office of Pastoral Planning.  This process included listening sessions connected with the VOICES process, the self-study through the PEI/SEI, parish assemblies and regional meetings with parish representatives leading to recommendations for the future. The Diocesan Coordinating Commission: Planning Tomorrow’s Churches engaged in broad consultation and deliberation in order to make their recommendations to me.  Moreover, Faith magazine, and the diocesan website, communicated the progress of the Coordinating Commission over the past three years.

The educational recommendation has a particular urgency due to a number of factors, that if not responded to, would create further hardship for the educational mission of the Church.   

For these reasons, the Diocesan Coordinating Commission finalized their recommendation on May 22, 2008. With regard to Father DuKette School, a Diocesan School, on June 3, 2008, I accepted the following recommendation for implementation:

The children of DuKette School will be invited to attend Saint John Vianney School. The diocese will help the children currently enrolled in K-7 (2007-2008) continue their Catholic Education with some diocesan subsidy while they remain in any parish grade school. DuKette School will be closed.

The Diocesan Superintendant will work with the Office of Pastoral Planning and the DuKette School leadership to implement these recommendations.

The new configuration holds great promise for a strengthened and renewed educational mission in Flint. Mindful that Father DuKette School has served the Catholic education mission in north Flint, those who have benefited from DuKette School since the early 1970’s and I am grateful for those who have so willingly dedicated themselves to this important endeavor. With the dramatic changes that have occurred in Flint over the past 40 years, it is imperative that we now join forces for a reconfiguration of the educational mission of the Church in order to proclaim Jesus Christ in as effective manner as possible.

Be assured of my prayers for you during this time of transition to a renewed and revitalized presence of education and mission of the Diocese of Lansing in the north end of Flint.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

† Earl Boyea
Bishop of Lansing