OVIEDO | Father Paul Helfrich carries out not only his vocation as a priest, but also as a member of the Brotherhood of Hope each day. As only one of three Brotherhood of Hope priests, Father Helfrich shares his ministry in serving the young adults on campus at University of Central Florida.
“Having experienced the Lord’s personal love for me, I felt like I wanted to make some response to Him,” Father Helfrich said. “I felt I wanted to imitate Him as closely as possible and I wanted a life that would free me for prayer and service; and I saw that in the Brotherhood.”
Forty-six years ago, Father Philip Merdinger and five laymen founded the Brotherhood of Hope. One of these men was Father Helfrich.
Father Helfrich encountered the Lord more deeply after watching his family participate in the Charismatic Renewal.
“I saw the change in that. That kind of undercut my argument that, well, this is for older people,” he explained. “When I was seeing what happened to them, I got involved with the renewal, and through that experience, the Lord in a much more personal way.”
Through this renewed faith, Father Helfrich moved into a Chris-tian men’s house in Newark and met Father Merdinger, the founding member of the Brotherhood of Hope.
“One night he gave a talk about starting the Brotherhood to the men in the household and he said, ‘Anybody who’s interested can come and look through this with me.’”
After his conversion of heart, Father Helfrich felt called, seeking to respond to God’s love through a life of prayer and service as a member.
“Early on, the Brotherhood (was) just getting started, so a number of us had secular jobs. I actually worked a number of years as an attorney,” Father Helfrich recalled.
Having that deeper desire to continue “imitating God as closely as possible,” he and another member
— Bob Oliver, who is now a monsignor — expressed interest in being ordained as priests.
“I feel like (serving Him) continues to this day because I feel like pursuing the priesthood was a further expression of that” Father Helfrich recalled. “Here’s another step in which I can make a response to the Lord, in which I can imitate Him more closely through prayer and service.”
Father Helfrich joined the University of Central Florida’s Catholic Campus Ministry staff in August 2025 to help serve the students and support local diocesan priests. He celebrates Mass, listens to confessions, and works on the liturgical committee to ensure logistics are arranged.
The University of Central Flor-ida Campus Ministry instantly welcomed Father Helfrich to campus. By working with the college students, it helps keep him “spiritually sharp” so he can “articulate in a way they can understand why faith should be something that’s important to them.”
“My title is campus minister, so I have some responsibilities in that way, and a number liturgically,” Father Helfrich explained. “I’m edified so often by talking with the students and seeing how much they love the Lord and want to serve Him. That is great encouragement to me in my own faith, to see their zeal for Him and the Church.”
Staff Report, January 22, 2026