GARDINER – When Patricia Phillips was working on her master’s thesis about pastoral counseling in 1986, she wrote about the persistent decline in the number of Catholic priests.

Phillips is now a parish coordinator at St. Joseph’s Church in Gardiner, and her job responsibilities have morphed and expanded over the years as the ranks of priests have been drastically reduced.

“Yesterday, I did a wake service,” Phillips said recently. “That’s definitely something a priest would have done years ago.”

Phillips is one of a growing number of lay ministers who are performing many of the administrative duties once assigned to priests.

Her experience is becoming increasingly typical across the country, as many parishes have turned to lay people to perform duties once done by the ordained. In addition, many priests are dividing their time between congregations.

These changes have caused a massive restructuring in the way Maine’s Catholic churches operate.

Three parishes in Augusta last year formed a tri-parish council and now collaborate on many planning decisions. Beginning this year, the parishes share two priests, one deacon and a pastoral associate.

Their plan is one part of how Maine’s 136 Roman Catholic parishes will deal with a shortage of priests that, even by the most conservative estimates, will become more severe over the next seven years.

In 1996, there were 141 priests serving the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, which covers the entire state.

The Rev. John Skehan, parish planning director for the diocese, said that by July the number of priests will decrease to 101. By 2010 there will likely be only 69 priests serving the diocese.

Skehan said he hopes parishes will develop long-range plans that will allow them to share resources but maintain separate identities.

Waterville’s three parishes merged into one in 1996. Though all three churches remain open, they share one staff, said the Rev. Philip Tracy of the Parish of the Holy Spirit.

Skehan said the arrangement in Waterville has been a success, but most priests are concerned about closing churches.

“One of the things that our priests have said very clearly is that they don’t want any viable parishes to close,” he said.

To ensure that, parishes will have to rely more on trained laity like Phillips to absorb administrative and even spiritual tasks once reserved for priests.

“Years ago priests did a lot of things that you really don’t have to be ordained for,” Skehan said. “Now the laity has stepped forward to share their gifts.”

It would take a massive influx of new priests to provide a quick fix for the shortage, but recruitment efforts at dioceses across the country have yielded encouraging results.

Since 1995, the number of graduate-level seminarians in the country has increased from 3,172 to 3,584 last year.

The Portland Diocese has actively sought candidates for the priesthood since the Rev. Daniel Greenleaf took over as the diocese’s vocation director in 1997. Since then, 12 men counseled by Greenleaf have elected to attend seminary.

George Weigel, senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., said making a “vigorous effort” to recruit priests has proven effective.

“Somebody’s got to make the offer,” he said. “That’s the lesson of the past 30 years.”

Phillips said she prefers to cast the shortage in a positive light, especially when considering the recent scandal involving sexual abuse of children by priests.

She said increased participation by everyday Catholics will help mend the church’s wounds by empowering parishioners.

“I think it’s helping us not only to heal,” Phillips said, “but take responsibility to make our church what God wants it to be.”