St. Francis Region is one of thirty regions of the Secular Franciscan Order, U.S.A.  It became a region in 1990.  Prior to that time, the Order in the U.S. was in provinces, like the friar provinces of the First Order.  Each fraternity was said to be bonded with whichever of the First Orders established the Secular Franciscan fraternity, and that fraternity belonged to a province of Secular Franciscans that was the same geographically as the province of that First Order.  The three First Orders are all represented in the coastal states, that is, the Order of Friars Minor (O.F.M.), the OFM Conventual, and the OFM Capuchin.  Each had established secular fraternities and each of those fraternities was in the province of that First Order.  The provinces were very large (9 states, for example), making it very hard for the Secular Franciscan fraternities to have much contact with one another.  When regionalization occurred, the regions were made much smaller, and all the secular fraternities - regardless of which Order they were bonded with, became part of the region they were in geographically.  St. Francis Region became the geographical area from Pismo Beach, east across the Tehachapis to the Arizona state line, and south to the Mexican border.  Though still a lot of miles from one end to the other, it is not unmanageable and fraternities are able to come together periodically.

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