About Us
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Horn Creek is a high mountain Christian camp and conference grounds that intentionally stewards the glory and majesty of God's creation to create an environment for life change through community, teaching, and encouragement.
With over 50 years of ministry experience, Horn Creek continues to be a place where lives are changed by the encounter with God that people experience here through dynamic community, challenging teaching and the wonder and majesty of His creation.
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Cultivating Generations for Christ
The ministry of Horn Creek is fueled by a passion to see men, woman, boys and girls pointed to Jesus so that they might glorify Him and discover His best for their lives and the lives of their families and communities.
We know that when God changes a life, it doesn't stop there. A camper once made the observation, "What happens at Horn Creek doesn't stay at Horn Creek!" What a wonderful expression of the reality that when God changes a life, the impact always reaches beyond the individual. When Christ changes a dad's heart, He changes a family. A family committed to Christ can have an impact that stretches far and wide for generations.
We have the beautiful privilege of seeing this truth in action right before our very eyes at Horn Creek. The Horn Creek community is filled with examples of generations of impact for Christ and His kingdom.
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The Horn Creek community includes everyone who touches or has been touched by what God is doing here.
Horn Creek represents a vast community of folks that have connections with the ministry here. Our staff team, past and present, our many speakers and leaders, partners in ministry and all of our campers make up this incredible family!
This is important because we believe that God works powerfully in the context of any community that seeks Him. It's also important because we have learned that it takes every aspect of this community to make Horn Creek go!
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Every organization has a value system that should guide its actions. While there are any number of things that might be identified as important values to our ministry and community, there are some "biggies" that we think really rise to the surface. They are as follows:
Biblical Spirituality: We have faith in Christ and the sufficiency of His Word in all we are and do.
Impact: We impact people with a relevant and personal Christ-centered focus through teaching, fellowship and recreation.
Glory: We endeavor to bring glory to God in all that we say and do.
Guests: We commit to make their stay memorable, comfortable and affordable while being sensitive to their needs.
Integrity: We will maintain a positive name with those whom we associate.
Employees: We shall be an equitable employer committed to a workplace that supports the hiring and retention of those called to service at Horn Creek by providing opportunities for spiritual and professional growth.
Stewardship: We will care for the resources that God has entrusted to us in a way that honors Him.
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In 1951 two brothers, Paul and Dwight Zeller, founded Horn Creek to provide a camp in the Rockies that would minister to the youth of western Kansas and eastern Colorado. Dwight went on to found the Sangre de Cristo Seminary that now shares a boundary with Horn Creek. Paul and his young bride, Jean, spent much of their lives as devoted and faithful servants to the vision God gave them for Horn Creek.
It all began in a single-room potato cellar that still exists at our Ranch facility. There is a well-known story at Horn Creek that Jean mixed mortar by hand for many of the stone foundations around Horn Creek. In fact, for their very first anniversary they celebrated at Horn Creek, Paul gave Jean a powered mortar mixer! For many this may seem like a very unromantic gift, but it represented a common dream to Paul and Jean. Because of their vision, sacrifice, faith and commitment along with God's grace, that dream has now become a legacy of ministry.
Their plan was simply to provide a non-denominational camp where youth could visit for a week and find plenty of opportunities to have fun, where friendships were encouraged to grow, where youth could witness the beauty and majesty of God's creation, and where they could be gently introduced to the loving nature and truth of Christ.
Shortly after they began their first youth camps, Paul and Jean realized the need to provide families the opportunity to separate themselves from the distractions of the world, in order to grow closer to each other, friends, and to the Lord. Thus began the Horn Creek Family Camps. These camps would give families time to recreate with each other without the distractions of TVs, radios, work, having to taxi the kids to practices and games, while also giving them time to worship together.
While their mission and visions were quite simple, many of the family campers quickly grasped and agreed with the Zellers and chose to become an important part of the Legacy. They provided financial support and volunteered much labor that built that single potato cellar into four thriving camp facilities that each lodge and dine 140 guests each.
Many of these family campers began to tell their friends and pastors about Horn Creek. This opened the door for many churches and ministries to consider Horn Creek as their Rocky Mountain Christian retreat facility.
Through the years, the Zellers, our family and youth campers, and our Ministry Partners have created a legacy that now ministers to over 16,000 guests annually. God has been very gracious to Horn Creek. We believe the more prepared we are to meet you with servants’ hearts, the better the opportunity will be for you to experience the grace and majesty of God at Horn Creek.