In the 1989 movie "Field of Dreams," farmer Ray Kinsella, played by Kevin Costner, is inspired to plow under his field and build a baseball field after hearing a voice whisper: “If you build it, he will come.”

The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist may have taken a clue from that movie: Every time the Catholic convent in Ann Arbor Township expands, it is quickly filled with new recruits.

Since opening in early 1999 with beds for 23 nuns, the convent has gone through two expansions. The latest one, completed this summer, brought the capacity up to 100 sisters, and it is already filled.

The convent will not be expanded again; instead, there are plans in the works to start communities in other parts of the country.

The growth of the local religious community is unusual. Data from Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate show that the number of religious sisters in the nation has declined from nearly 180,000 in 1965 to about 59,600 in 2009.

Photo slideshow by Melanie Maxwell, AnnArbor.com

So why is the local convent growing and thriving?

Sister Maria Guadalupe, the director of the mission advancement office, said she thinks several factors have influenced the growth, including the convent’s traditional ways.

“Young people are looking for something radical, and the lifestyle of the Dominican sisters is radical,” she said. “(We) wear the full Dominican habit all the time — when we play soccer, when we buy groceries.”

“We’re called to imitate Christ, so we spend much of the day in silence, and we have a substantial prayer life. It’s a life that’s very demanding, but at the same time, very joyful. That’s something that attracts young women. They come here on retreats, and they see joy. It’s a paradox that our joy comes from our sacrifice.”

At the same time, the convent offers a sense of community that is attractive to many young women. The nuns do everything together, including working as teachers at the private Spiritus Sanctus academies in Ann Arbor and Plymouth.

Something else that makes the local community of nuns unusual is the youth of its members. The average age of all the sisters is 26, and the average age of new nuns entering the convent is 21.

“Young sisters need a place to be able to get some activity, especially with Michigan winters,” Sr. Maria Guadalupe said. “We live out where the roads are dirt, and they turn to ice in the winter. The gym is a place where we can enjoy physical activity. When we enter the sisterhood, we don’t become angels. We have our physical bodies, and they need care as much as our souls.”

Although it is steeped in tradition, the convent has embraced technology and the Internet. It has a highly interactive Web site at www.sistersofmary.org, complete with links, video and an area where visitors can make prayer requests.

“We were founded to live out the new evangelism that Pope John Paul II talked about,” Sr. Maria Guadalupe said.

She said one aspect of that new evangelism is that, while it’s the same gospel message that’s been preached for 2,000 years, the times call for new ways to get the message out.

“We need to be where people are,” she said. “We know people are online, out there searching. We hope to be a presence for good. It’s also a way to reach out to our donors. People can donate on our site, and donors can see their gifts are having a major effect on our lives.”

The Web site isn’t the only part of the sisterhood’s outreach, though.

“We go out to many colleges, university and high schools to give vocation talks and help with vocation fairs on campuses,” she said. “We’re out there letting people know there are young people entering religious life. It’s a sign of hope for people in the church. We’re not a dying institution, we’re not going away - we’re the essence of the church.”

Photo captions:

Photos by Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

Sisters pray in the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist chapel in Ann Arbor Township.

Sister Stephen Patrick dribbles the ball while playing basketball in the new gymn at the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist convent in Ann Arbor Township. Finishing touches are being placed on the third phase of construction which included a new gym, resident facility and lecture hall.