Steubenville Conferences Restored

The monstrance glinted through the incense’s smoke as the priest slowly walked through the crowd. Some sang with arms outstretched, others knelt in silent prayer. Some had journeyed from several states away, others from 10 minutes down the road. But all came for one reason: to encounter Jesus Christ.

Steubenville Conferences had returned.

In summer 2021, Steubenville Conferences held five adult conferences and five youth conferences at Franciscan University, plus eight regional youth conferences. And this year, even those who couldn’t travel to a conference could experience one. Thousands of viewers worldwide, from Australia to the United Kingdom, tuned into free livestreamed sessions. Youth groups could also host a conference weekend at home with Steubenville Youth Retreats, which combined livestreamed talks with in-person elements.

In 2020, the youth conferences’ theme was supposed to be “Restored”—from “Restore us, O God; let thy face shine, that we may be saved” (Ps. 80:3). But, with last year’s cancelations, “Restored” became perhaps an even more fitting theme for 2021.

“Give God permission to not just renovate you but to restore you,” speaker Paul J. Kim encouraged teens during one of the on-campus youth conferences, which included Mass, eucharistic adoration, praise and worship music, games, and more.

The Power and Purpose Conference, June 4–6, kicked off the adult conferences. To the hundreds in Finnegan Fieldhouse and nearly 3,000 people joining via livestream, speaker Bart Schuchts urged an embrace of the Holy Spirit’s transformative power.

“Jesus came to set the earth on fire. He wants to set the earth on fire by setting the Church on fire, and he wants to set the Church on fire by setting you on fire,” he said. “The way you’re going to be set on fire is by just being who God created you to be.”

At the St. John Bosco Conference, Sister Mary Michael Fox, OP, MA ’08 spoke about the importance of recognizing God’s power and walking with him throughout the spiritual journey.

“We’re all messy, muddy miracles of grace. Any good you do, any good you’ve ever done is God’s grace,” she said. “Don’t run away from the mud and the mess. Give it to him.”

With two years since the last regular conference season, this summer was a much-welcomed addition to Steubenville Conferences’ more than 45-year history—another summer full of Christian fellowship and restored hearts. Speaking during the Applied Biblical Studies Conference, Franciscan theology professor Dr. Scott Hahn gave a simple yet powerful summary of what the conference experience is all about.

“You ought to come here and expect to have a very deep encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ and life-transforming experience of the Holy Spirit.”