Attending a Flight
Welcome
We very excited that you have considered attending one of our upcoming Chrysalis Flights! Our Chrysalis team is prayerfully preparing for this special weekend - just for you. As you join us on this journey, we will make every effort to accommodate you and any needs you may have. Below is an outline of some of the most important information you should know as a Caterpillar.
A brief introduction
The butterfly is an ancient Christian symbol for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This symbol is the central metaphor of the Chrysalis experience. It is a journey of spiritual growth that is marvelously illustrated in the life cycle of a butterfly over these three days. Participants are referred to as "caterpillars" that voluntarily submit themselves to an amazing transformation called "Chrysalis." For a caterpillar, this is the process of dying to itself in order to become what God has intended it to be.
On a Chrysalis weekend, our process of transformation is experienced through faith by accepting God's love as a gift, dying with Christ to our old-self and rising with Christ to a new-self. We ascribe to live out our "fourth days" (which refer to every day after our Chrysalis weekend) with a new motivation for continuous growth in our faith and flying with Christ in the church by joyfully sharing God's ministry of reconciliation and love in an alienated world.
Our weekend together
To attend one of our Chrysalis weekends, please free up your schedule from 8:00am on that Friday morning through Sunday until about 7:00pm.
Send-off
Friday at 8:30am
Send-off is referred to as the location where we all arrive together before our weekend begins. You, your sponsor, your parents and any other family should arrive at the send-off location on Friday by 8:00am. The send-off location is usually the same as the flight location - but not always.
School
Friday - no school!
It is normal for caterpillars to miss one day of school on the Friday prior to attending Chrysalis. A letter for school dismissal is attached to an email that you will receive right after you submit your online Flight Application.
Closing
Sunday at 4:30pm
Closing is referred to as the ceremony that we all attend at the end of the weekend. Please remind your parents and any other family that they are also invited and encouraged to attend closing. Your sponsors, parents and any other family should arrive at the closing location on Sunday by 4:30pm.
Emergency contact
In the case of any emergency in your family, an emergency telephone number will be provided to both your family and your sponsor for any direct contact for you that becomes necessary. At the same time, we will also have your family and sponsor's phone numbers in case we need to contact them for you as well. The reason for this is because having no interruptions during the weekend is highly important (i.e. phone calls, visits, etc) and as such, you will be asked not to bring any electronic devices with you at all during your Chrysalis weekend.
What to bring
This is a very casual weekend, so please bring comfortable clothes. Most of our time will be spent in a conference room-like setting. Clothing should be included to allow for comfortable walking.
- 3 sets of regular clothing (for Fri, Sat and Sun) plus the clothing you arrive in on Thursday
- sweater or light jacket
- comfortable shoes for walking
- shower shoes
- toothbrush & toothpaste
- washcloth or luffa, soap and shampoo (showers will be provided)
- comb or hair brush
- towel
- pillow
- sleeping bag or sheets and a blanket
- sleeping pad or air mattress (twin size only - please)
- one set of church appropriate dress clothing:
- for a guys weekend: dress slacks, a button-down shirt and dress shoes, belt
- for a girls weekend: a dress OR slacks with top and dress shoes - flashlight
- umbrella
- a personal Bible and journal or a diary are optional
- you probably won't need anything else!
What NOT to bring
As stated above, having no interruptions on your Chrysalis weekend is highly important. So we ask that you NOT bring any electronic devices including phones, radios, music players, cameras or anything similar; and the best part is you won't even need a watch! We will keep you on-time as we move from one place to another. Let this time feel like a vacation from the real world and your busy schedule. We hope that you will completely surrender yourself to this experience and refrain from bringing anything that keeps track of what time it is. If you do, we ask that you plan to surrender all of these items on Thursday until we can give them back to you on Sunday night after Closing. Also, please note that our community doesn't allow the use of tobacco products or any other substance and we also do not allow any firearms on the weekend accordingly.
Meals & dietary needs
Our kitchen staff will cook and provide all of our meals and will also make a variety of snacks available throughout most of the weekend. If you have any dietary needs (vegetarian, lactose intolerant, allergies, etc) that you need to tell us about then please include that information on your flight application or by contacting us about that ahead of your weekend. We will shop and plan our menu's around those special needs - just for you.
Forms
After submitting your Flight application, we will email your parents, your sponsor, and your pastor/youth pastor and ask that each of them fill out separate forms on your behalf so that you can attend Chrysalis. This is only for your information and does not require any action on your part - we will take care of the rest of this for you!
Next steps
If you haven't already please click the link below to fill out our online application to attend a Chrysalis Flight!