About HoneyRock Center for Leadership Development

HoneyRock was started by Coach Harve Chrouser, his wife, Dot, and a team of Wheaton College professors and coaches as a leadership and character formation laboratory for college students and youth. This group found the camp-like, outdoor environment to be an ideal place for building relationships, facing challenges, working hard, and playing well. In Coach’s own words: 

“While Honey Rock is called a camp, it is essentially an educational project designed to be a leadership laboratory providing an internship experience where the student undertakes total leadership responsibility of the cabin group in a camp-living situation. The Honey Rock idea was to create for the student a new kind of teaching-learning environment, unlike the school model.” 

• "We sought to deformalize teaching and make it more relational and discipling.”
• “We want to instill a desire for involvement which outweighs the desire to be entertained.”
• “It is our intentional plan to structure into everyone’s experience at HoneyRock a reasonable amount of stress and struggle compatible with the age group.” 
• “To be involved in a work experience day after day is for most [youth and young adults] a new test…” 
• “College should help the student make three discoveries… proof of learning, proof of self, and proof of God.” 

Wheaton College, one of the leading Christian liberal arts colleges in the country, has owned and operated HoneyRock since 1951. Throughout its long history, HoneyRock has developed and trained young people and college students to impact the church and society worldwide for Christ. 

HoneyRock has grown into a year-round leadership laboratory of Wheaton College with programs for youth, emerging adults, and outdoor adventure and ministry professionals alike.

Mission

In line with the mission of Wheaton College,

HoneyRock exists to build Christ’s church and benefit society worldwide by fostering the development of whole and effective people through transformational experiences.

Core Values

Core Values are the constant, unchanging, passionate, and Biblical beliefs that drive the ministry, depict our unique identity, inspire, galvanize, and determine priorities. We seek to ensure that all programs and experiences at HoneyRock are characterized by these values in some way. We plan, implement and evaluate our programs based on these historic principles:

• Authentic Community 
• Wholistic Engagement
• Developmental Journey
• Sacred Space 

Desired Outcomes

Our desired outcomes for every participant at HoneyRock, from campers to graduate students:

• Ownership of Personal Faith in Jesus Christ
• Critical Thinking
• Personal Responsibility
• Relational Maturity
• Facilitative Leadership
• Teamwork
• Cultural Sensitivity
• Compassion for the World

Distinctive Characteristics

What sets HoneyRock apart is summed up in these characteristics: 

• A Powerful Learning Environment – This is articulated and embodied in our core values. HoneyRock specializes in temporary community and outdoor context for challenge and connection. 
• An Engaging Learning Process – Deep thinking is pressed into practice throughout our camper and student programs. Learning at HoneyRock is experiential and goes through a cycle of truth, experience and reflection. 
• Facilitated Holistic Discipleship – On-going discipleship is characterized by challenge, support, and vision. This is exemplified in our 1:1's, our small groups, and personal development plans. 
• Leadership Development Progression – Multi-level experiences that challenge participants to the next level of maturity (spiritually, relationally, etc.). Our programs for campers and students follow a progression of Introduction > Immersion > Leading > Replicating.
• Global Impact and Respect – HoneyRock is known world-wide as a leader in leadership development in and through camp ministry.