The Secular Franciscan Order of St. Conrad was founded in 1971 in Annapolis, Maryland. Fr. Edwin Dorzweiler, OFM Cap was its first Spiritual Assistant, followed by 23 other brothers of the Office of Friar Minors, Capuchin Order of St. Augustine Province for the life of the fraternity.
In the beginning, fraternity members met at the St. Conrad’s Friary in Annapolis, Maryland until 1983, when the Friary was sold to a private investor. Since its founding, the membership grew in numbers and moved from one location to another in Annapolis called the Manresa Retreat House. When this facility was sold in 1993, the fraternity moved to St. Andrew by the Bay for a short time, then to Our Lady of the Fields Parish in Millersville, MD in 1995.
In January of 2006, the fraternity moved to where it is currently home to, the St. John the Evangelist Parish, in Severna Park, Maryland. During the outbreak of Covid19, the fraternity met online by Zoom from March 2020 to October 2021, during which time St. John the Evangelist’s Parish began its renovations. The fraternity met in temporary sites until the renovations at St. John’s were completed.
Today, we are back at our home in St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Severna Park, where we hold our regular monthly meetings on the third Saturday of the month, with Fr. Patrick Monahan, OFM CAP as our Spiritual Assistant.
