What is Chrysalis

The growth stage between caterpillar and butterfly is called a chrysalis. On the surface it may not look like much is happening, but the delicate process changes the caterpillar into an awesome butterfly with wings of intricate designs and intense colours. The chrysalis process symbolises how Christ can transform you into something beyond your dreams. It happens when you grow beyond yourself, opening your life to Jesus' power and love.

Chrysalis is the name chosen for the youth version of The Walk to Emmaus, its parent movement, because it symbolises the spiritual growth that is essential between adolescence and adulthood. That growth is as crucial for youth as the cocoon is for the caterpillar. It is that precious time of nurturing a person's faith for discipleship. This three-day spiritual renewal time provides an opportunity for you to learn more about faith, to experience Christian love and support, and to make new faith commitments. The point is to inspire, challenge, and equip you for a closer friendship with Christ and for Christian action at home, church, and community.

Chrysalis lifts up a way for you to enjoy Christ's friendship and love and to be Christ's friend and partner in the world. The three days focus on God's grace, your experience with Christ as a friend, what it means to be the body of Christ, and giving love to a needy world.

Chrysalis Flight
Flight 1 Central Hall Grimsby 2000
Flight 2 Littledale Hall Brookhouse 2001
Flight 3 Buckton Towers Nr Huntingdon 30 August - 1 September 2002
Flight 4 Buckton Towers Nr Huntingdon 29 - 31 August 2003
Flight 5 Littledale Hall Nr Brookhouse 20 - 22 August 2004
Flight 6 Laceby Rd Grimsby 29 - 31 July 2005
Flight 7 Hill End Nr Oxford 1 - 3 September 2006
Flight 8 Cockermouth, Cumbria 15 - 18 February 2008
Flight 9 Has been postponed for now

Chrysalis Journey
Young Ladies #1, Planned for the Summer 2010

What is SPONSORSHIP?

The following is from the Upper Room Chrysalis web site

Each young person who attends Chrysalis has a “sponsor” who supports and encourages him/her before, during, and after the Chrysalis experience.

Sponsorship is the way in which the Chrysalis experience is passed on from person to person, reflecting the manner in which God purposefully reaches out to people through other people. After a Chrysalis Weekend, participants want to share the gift of those three days with others. Sponsorship provides them a caring and disciplined way for them to share. And in doing so, sponsors participate in and demonstrate God’s outreaching love.

Sponsorship is taken for granted in many communities. The assumption is that everyone knows the how and why of sponsorship. Sometimes sponsorship is only discussed with reference to the number of participants signed up for a Chrysalis Weekend.

Sponsorship, however, is the most important job in the Chrysalis Movement. It is a job shared by the adults who have been through Emmaus and the young people who have been through Chrysalis. It is more than simply “signing youth up.” The importance of a Chrysalis Community being educated about good sponsorship cannot be overemphasized. The quality of sponsorship impacts the new participants, the health of the Chrysalis Movement in an area, and the churches being affected by Chrysalis.

Next Steps

How do we sustain the great experience we felt on our Chrysalis weekends when nothing in the outside “world” has changed? How do we keep the love of Jesus alive in our hearts?

There’s an old Chinese proverb “The journey of a thousand miles, begins with one step.” Your Next Steps begin your Life’s spiritual journey. Choose them wisely.

The Chrysalis walk is meant to give you the tools you’ll need on your Christian journey through life, but you have to keep them sharpened! How? First, by accepting that you are a child of God, no matter what your life circumstance or past or people may tell you. The Chrysalis committee believes that you did not go on your walk by accident. It wasn’t your friend or parent or youth leader who brought you to Chrysalis—it was Jesus himself! He wants a relationship with you. (Yes, YOU!)

He wants you attending church and school and staying in contact with other Christians. He’d love to see you in a small, sharing, support group. He wants to see you giving away His love to the people He puts in your path. He wants you learning more about Him and His Father, by reading the Bible—and, hey!, if you’re not much of a reader, the Bible comes on tapes and in CD form too. He wants you to follow the commandments in the Bible and to work at becoming more like Jesus.

The Chrysalis and Emmaus communities would love to help you on your spiritual journey. Join us on a Chrysalis team or at Chrysalis or Emmaus activities. Chrysalis youth are always welcome. You are the future!