Forget those long drives to Tucson and Ohio. LifeTeen’s wildly popular and often transformative evangelizing conference for young people is finally coming to Texas.

From June 17-19, Fr. Rodney White will lead a group of 54 young people from the Diocese of San Angelo to the inaugural Steubenville Lone Star conference at the Sheraton Dallas.

How effective is this outreach of the Franciscan University of Steubenville? After starting as a summer retreat 40 years ago in Ohio, the LifeTeen conferences this summer alone are expected to be experienced by 54,000 high school youth who will attend at least one of 23 conferences.

“This is a special gift,” Fr. Rodney said. “When you look at the number of people from Texas who attended Steubenville West (in Tucson) and other Steubenville conferences in past years, those numbers have been significant. When Bishop Sis came to the diocese, he was very influential in having Steubenville consider having one in Texas, and we’re very grateful to the Diocese of Dallas for taking on that responsibility.”

Turns out the decision by the Texas bishops to introduce Steubenville Lone Star was spot on: the conference was sold out when 3,200 teens signed up in four hours.

Young people sign up through their parishes and those who attend hear captivating speakers that have a knack for evangelizing to young people. Presenters such as Mark Hart, also known as “The Bible Geek”; Chris Stefanick, a noted Catholic youth keynoter, and musician Ike Ndolo will all be at Steubenville Lone Star this month.

“More than anything, Steubenville conferences give young people the opportunity to get outside their comfort zones,” Fr. Rodney said. “They are given opportunities to attend breakout groups following the presentations. There is Mass each day, opportunities for confession for basically the entire time of the retreat. Steubenville gives young people the opportunity to broaden their sense of the faith and not just experience it with their local friends and buddies who are living the faith, but also to see people from all over the state and all over the country. They will be inspired and challenged by the talks given.”

Conferences such as Steubenville frequently speak directly to young people, but one of the greatest outcomes of the Steubenville experience is that it has a reputation for inspiring youth to consider vocations.

“Sometimes they find a desire in themselves to serve the Lord,” Fr. Rodney said. “They see priests hearing confessions for hours on end, offering Mass, and interacting with so many people that it can open their eyes to that possibility of serving themselves.”

According to LifeTeen.com, “At a Steubenville Conference, teens will learn what it takes to be great in this life (and they) will come to experience a relationship with Christ that can radically transform everything in their life. The goal of every Steubenville Conference is for teens to open their hearts to Jesus Christ who desires their lives to be fulfilling, exciting, and joyful!”