Steubenville Atlantic is a regional youth conference that began in 2007. It is Canada’s first Steubenville conference series inspired by the original conference held at the Ohio university of the same name. The Franciscan University of Steubenville has since grown to hold annual youth conferences in 19 cities across North America.
To mark its 10th anniversary, the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth is hosting a launch party on Jan. 15 to invite youth from across the region to get a taste of what’s in store for them at Steubenville Atlantic on July 4-6, 2016.
“I think this year on the 10th anniversary might be the most fun we’ve had yet,” said Lydia Hood, project coordinator at the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth. “If you’ve never gone to Steubenville Atlantic, this would be the year to come. I think it’s going to be one of the best.”
Hood said the planning committee is pulling out all the stops this year, starting with the launch party. The committee will be unveiling the official 10th anniversary t-shirt design at the launch party.
The committee has also invited prominent Catholic speaker and musician, Steve Angrisano, to be the host of the evening, as well as the conference in the summer. Angrisano has been featured in six World Youth Days and several youth conferences in North America, including Steubenville Atlantic.
“We started the launch to bring in the music and ministry of the Steubenville conference into a short, come-and-see type of event,” said John Stevens, youth coordinator.
Stevens has spearheaded the Steubenville Atlantic conference since day one. Over the years, he has watched how youth have been revitalized by the conferences and how it has become a symbol of hope.
“When I go to parishes to talk to people, youth is one of those things that always appears in people’s top five concerns in the Church,” said Stevens. “So to be able to have this moment where we can come and see young people who are interested and alive in their faith... that’s an amazing moment of hope.”
Most of this year’s planning committee has been past attendees of Steubenville Atlantic. Hood was 17 when she and her friends attended the first conference in 2007, when no one really knew what to expect.
“I think it was beyond anything that we could imagine. It was the people, the music, that talks. It was incredible,” said Hood. “I think while the conference was really important, the way that it affected us when we returned back to Charlottetown, we wanted to try new things and we wanted to tell people how great the experience had been.”
She said that after that first conference, she and her friends became more involved in their home parishes. They introduced new things like Eucharistic Adoration and praise and worship in their ministry.
“The dynamics of our youth group shifted a little bit because we wanted to share more, we wanted to try new activities,” she said. “I think the adults in a way couldn’t say no to us because they saw the change it had on us.”