The folks over at America magazine have just put out their annual Ministry Issue, and the cover story is about how lay missionaries are stepping up to fill the void left by vanishing clergy:

As the number of priests and religious in ministry around the globe declines, the number of lay people doing mission work increases.

The development should not be new to Catholics in the United States, where lay people distribute Communion at Mass, staff Catholic schools, even lead Sunday Communion services in thousands of communities without resident priests—roles traditionally filled by priests and religious. Yet because lay missionaries work in other countries and continents, the average American Catholic does not see them.

Meet Joe and Becky Sherman. The Shermans are raising their two children, six-year-old Josh and three-year-old Celia, in a rural area near Cochabamba, Bolivia. Having spent nearly two years in Uganda with a program through Johns Hopkins University, the couple knew that after they had children they would return overseas, preferably with a faith-based organization. They learned all they could before making a commitment to serve with Maryknoll Lay Missioners.

“Life in Uganda was hard,” says Becky Sherman. “Maryknoll has experience with families—lots of experience—so we wouldn’t go through it alone as a family. Maryknoll’s values of accompaniment, living out Gospel values and living in community were amazing to us,” she continues. “We could live abroad, with a ready-made Catholic community who would walk with us through the difficult times we knew we would have.” Joe Sherman, 47, now a medical doctor with a degree also in bioengineering, works as a pediatrician and Becky, 38, as a child clinical psychologist, while their blond-haired, blue-eyed children attend a neighborhood school.

“Although they realize they are different, there is no value judgment,” Becky says of her children. “Their best buddies live in very impoverished conditions, and our kids are fine with that and in such a beautiful way.”

The Shermans’ commitment with Maryknoll expires in 2009, at which time, says Becky, they are not likely to renew for another three years. The family’s future plans include settling back into their house in the United States and perhaps serving short stints in Africa during the children’s summer vacations. “It is very important for me that my kids know where they are from and where they will move back to,” she says. “I want them to know that they have a ‘home.’ Seattle is our home.”

The Shermans are recounting their odyssey at their own website. And America, meanwhile, is hosting an online “open house” for the summer. You can register and read any of the online articles, including the one on lay missionaries, for free. Check it out — and check out their redesigned and expanded website. Great stuff.

Photo: Joe Sherman examining a patient, from www.familysherman.com