Steubenville of the Rockies: FAQs

The Steubenville Youth Conferences, an outreach of Franciscan University of Steubenville, are a series of 25 conferences across North America that help teens encounter the love of Christ every summer. Our mission is to build the Church by evangelizing, equipping, and empowering God’s children to become radical and joyful disciples. For more information about the Steubenville Conferences, visit steubenvilleconferences.com.

We are here to make registration easy! Once registration opens there will be a link on this page to online registration. A more detailed registration procedure will be provided on the registration page once registration opens. You will be asked how many spots you wish to reserve for youth participants, chaperones and any priests, seminarians or religious attending with your group. There is a $50 non-refundable, non-transferable deposit for each spot. You will receive confirmation of your group registration through email. This conference typically sells out quickly. Please contact our office at 303-715-3252 with any questions you may have.

Steubenville Youth Conferences are for high school youth: 9-12 graders.  

Youth who will be entering Grade 9 in August 2024 up to those who graduated high school in June 2024 can attend Steubenville of the Rockies as a youth participant. 

In order to effectively minister to your teens and for the safety of the youth and for the good of all involved in the conference, there must be at least one (Group Leader or Adult Chaperone) per seven youth/gender. Ex. For every 7 female youth, at minimum 1 female chaperone. For every 7 male youth, at minimum 1 male chaperone. Groups are unable to share chaperones with other groups in order to meet the minimum requirement of 1 adult (Group Leader or Adult Chaperone) per seven youth, per gender.  

Also remember that if you are bringing male and female teens you MUST have a male and female chaperone. 

It is our pleasure to welcome any and all priests to attend the Steubenville of the Rockies Youth Conference. It is both a blessing and a witness to hundreds of youth to see the great servants of the Church all around them.

As a sign of our gratitude for their priestly service, we have waived the registration fee for all priests in attendance who sign up to assist throughout the weekend with a minimum of 2 sessions of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Priests are invited to concelebrate Mass Saturday and Sunday morning. Please bring your stole.

Although we strongly support Catholic family life, our staffing, facility constraints, and insurance regulations do not allow young children to be present at and/or attend the conference. In addition, the focus of the Group Leader/Adult Chaperones needs to be on the Youth participants. If these adults bring their own children, their focus will be split. With the best care of the youth in mind, please refrain from bringing non –participant children with you. 

Plan to arrive at the Conference Registration check-in table between 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM on Friday, June 21, 2024, at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Conference Center. The Group Leader will check-in the entire group. In order to prevent confusion, the rest of the group MUST wait away from the check-in area. 

• The conference begins Friday, June 21, 2024 at 6:30pm 
• The conference ends at noon on Sunday, June 23, 2024. 

The registration fee includes conference programming, Saturday breakfast, lunch and dinner, and Sunday breakfast. Housing, parking and transportation are not included.

No, housing is not included in the registration fee.  

Housing is an additional $199 per night/per room, regardless of who stays in the room. Up to 4 people can stay in a room. Parking fees are also not included in the registration fee or the housing cost. Please complete the Housing Request Form by May 9, 2024. This form will be sent via email to the Group Leader once registration is confirmed. Groups must stay at the Gaylord Resort. If you choose to stay off-site there will be an additional charge for groups staying off-site. 

Housing is provided at the hotel connected to the Conference Center. Please do not call and book directly through the hotel. Once you have registered, the Conference Office will send you a Housing Request Link where we will gather your housing information and book the rooms in your group leader’s name. This is a separate cost and is not included in the registration fee. The cost is $199.00 per night (4 occupants per room). 

We will do our very best to help accommodate whatever needs that individual may have. Remember, we can only help as much as you communicate with us. For that reason, please contact our office (303-715-3252) as early as possible to explain your needs.

Your bus driver can be accommodated at the same hotel as your group. Please include your bus driver when reserving rooms for your group. Bus drivers do not attend the conference.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are provided at the Gaylord Rockies Resort on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday. All other meals are on your own. There are many choices of restaurants inside the hotel. Group leaders often bring snacks for their teens who get hungry in the late evening after the conference ends on Friday and Saturday nights. NOTE: Outside food is not allowed in the conference venue or in the meeting rooms. 

If you have a member in your group with a food allergy that we need to be aware of (lactose intolerant, wheat/peanut allergy, etc.), please let us know. We will work with the Gaylord Rockies Resort to try to accommodate your needs; however, we recommend that you bring some safe food, just in case. 

Denver is very warm during the summer. It is very important to drink plenty of water in Denver’s altitude and hot, dry weather, so be sure to bring a reusable water bottle with you. We sometimes have afternoon thunderstorms. Dress to be casual, comfortable, and modest. 

The Archdiocese of Denver has very specific guidelines regarding modest dress. We ask that you strictly adhere to these policies. Also, please keep in mind that some rules apply specifically to males, while others are directed to females.

1. Shorts, skirts, or dresses that are shorter than five inches above the knee while standing are not permitted.
2. Shirts that reveal midriff are not permitted, nor are shirts that are too low cut from the neck area.
3. Skirts, shorts, or pants are not allowed to sag to the point of revealing one’s undergarments while standing or sitting.
4. During all liturgies and prayers, every male, youth, or adult must remove headwear. This includes all hats, visors, headbands, bandanas, etc.; this is more out of respect than modesty.
5. Clothing that may appear to have an anti-Christian message are not permitted.
6. Clothing with writing or symbols that include crude language, promotion of alcohol or drug use, or suggestive material of a crude or sexual nature are not permitted.
7. Any individual wishing to serve as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion for the Liturgical celebration is asked to wear long pants or a skirt.
8. At such events where music is being played, many people often feel moved to dance. While we encourage dancing, we feel it is necessary to remind you that no moves that appear tasteless and/or vulgar will be permitted. We invite you to have a great time, but please keep it clean!

Please call the Office of Evangelization and Family Life Ministries at the Archdiocese of Denver at 303- 715-3252 or email us at SteubenvilleRockies@archden.org. 

• Youth: Participants in the conference must be entering 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grades in the fall or have been a spring graduate of the same year as the conference. Youth must be accompanied by an adult chaperone(s). No individual youth registrations will be accepted.
• Group Leader: The adult responsible for organizing your trip and serving as the main contact for your group. Email and oral correspondence take place between the group leader and the Archdiocese of Denver. The group leader must be attending the conference and will be responsible for the entire group during the conference.
• Trip Organizer: Some groups utilize a trip organizer, separate from the Group Leader who is handling all registration and paperwork, but not attending the conference. Written and oral correspondence will take place between the trip organizer and the Archdiocese of Denver pertaining to registration of the group. If your group utilizes a person separate from the on-site Group Leader to handle registration, please provide contact information for both the Group Leader and Trip Organizer at initial registration for all communications pertaining to the conference.
• Adult Chaperone: Adult, age 21 +, attending to chaperone the youth. For the safety of the youth and to foster productive small group times, the ratio of adult to youth is 1 adult per 7 youth in your group. We ask that your group not exceed the maximum adult to youth ratio. This allows the maximum number of youths to attend this much sought-after conference. This weekend is challenging physically and spiritually. It is a time of deep ministry and small group time. We recommend that chaperones feel comfortable directing, sharing with, and praying with youth. Chaperones must be available at all times for youth and should not be preoccupied with matters outside of the conference. All chaperones attending with your group must meet the training requirements for youth protection in your (arch)diocese.

Seminarians, deacons and other religious are welcome to attend with your group, but they will need to pay the registration fee. They need not act as chaperones for your group. Only priests who assist with at least 2 sessions of Reconciliation may attend for free. Please include any seminarians, deacons and/or other religious as part of your registration numbers and for housing.

Although we strongly support Catholic family life, our staffing, facility constraints, and insurance regulations do not allow young children to be present at and/or attend the conference. In addition, the focus of the Group Leader/Adult Chaperones needs to be on the Youth participants. If these adults bring their own children, their focus will be split. With the best care of the youth in mind, please refrain from bringing non-participant children with you.