Chrysalis
In early March the board of Emmaus was sent the letter below from the Chrysalis Community Lay Director:
“There will not be a Flight this year as we were not able to obtain LD’s nor BA’s. We need to find a way to involve new Pilgrims with Chrysalis. We also need more youth on the board and more people on the board too.
Let me know when you are able together and talk.
DeColores
Ron Gordon Sr CCLD”
Ron and I did meet for an hour and discussed the state of Chrysalis during that time. Chrysalis was shrinking at such a rapid pace that there was not enough support to create even a leadership team for a Flight or enough support to create a full board. At the point I talked to Ron, the Chrysalis board had not met in the previous four months.
After our meeting, I contacted the Upper Room for guidance. At that time, I learned that Northern Illinois Chrysalis was not in good standing with the Upper Room, and, more importantly, there were many Chrysalis communities that are having the same issues our community is having. Even the Upper Room’s community had put their Chrysalis on hold to buy time to rebuild it. The Upper Room gave me two options: shut Chrysalis down or have Chrysalis take an eighteen month to two year hiatus. The Executive Board of Emmaus opted to take a hiatus and do as recommended by the Upper Room: after eighteen months set up an entirely new steering committee for Chrysalis – one with younger people, one that was not afraid to make changes, and one with a vision to match the Upper Room’s vision of “modernizing” the way we locally handle the program.
The Upper Room recognizes that it needs to update it program and they are working on it. Hopefully by the time we are starting to rebuild the program locally, we will have new material to work with.
Please keep Chrysalis in your prayers! Our youth need to learn how to “Fly with Christ” and carry the good news out into the world! I have messaged with three people who are interested in rebuilding Chrysalis (two have just moved into the community). If anyone in the community, previously not involved with Chrysalis who is twenty-something or who has a heart for high school age youth, are interested in starting to helping a year from now, please feel free to respond on our website and your name will be put on the a list as a potential steering committee person.
Fly With Christ!
Barb Golden