Chrysalis Community Choir
The Community Choir is a brand new initiative for Chrysalis. The aim of the choir is for people from the local community who love to sing to get together, meet new friends and have fun whilst singing a variety of styles including Gospel and Musical Theatre.
We are fast approaching the first rehearsal and things are progressing really well. Over 30 singers have already signed up to join the new initiative which starts rehearsing on Wednesday 5th November at the McMinn Centre Chesham for 5 weeks.
If you love singing and feel your voice hasn’t been used since those dim and distant school assembly days there are still places available. Please contact office@chrysalis.org.uk or 01494 581115 for an information pack and get warbling!
‘Hatching’ into a new phase
Since Nicki and Mandy became ‘Mums’ in 2007 it has become clear that national (or international!) Chrysalis tours were no longer so practical for them.
Some years ago they had felt a leaning towards presenting Chrysalis locally on a more regular basis in the Trusts home town of Chesham to establish a working reality of this type of relational evangelism. Now they feel God is again calling Chrysalis to engage more with the local community just as it did when it started back in 1992.
Nicki and Mandy got thinking and praying to see exactly what God had in mind for them and Chrysalis. Several ideas came out that were developed and brought to the Trustees to consider. The Trustees were encouraged by all the ideas, and after more prayer, they decided to proceed with the local choir proposal. (see separate item)
With this new initiative, the Trustees had to look at the role of Development Director. The change in focus from national expansion to more local work, meant that going forward, a Development Director was no longer a necessity. Consequently the difficult decision was made to not renew Jo’s Contract when it expires in January 2009. It was some relief when Jo admitted that she had been contemplating becoming a full time Mum as both her girls will be at school/pre-school from next year.
So the Classical Team will continue to tour and work alongside local churches in the UK. The Cabaret and main teams will not completely cease to exist but whilst not touring as regularly as they have done, they will be available for certain projects and people will be advised to ring the office if they are interested in using these teams. Chrysalis Rocks is still ‘in the wings’ but we hope they are on the road in 2009.
We do believe that Chrysalis is now ‘hatching’ into our next phase. We are all excited by the Community Choir, and other local projects. We believe God has great plans for Chrysalis. Thank you for your backing in the past and we would ask for your continued prayers as we move towards these new ventures.
What?
Chrysalis is an evangelistic concept, with the vision to meet people "where they're
at", taking the Gospel beyond the four walls of the church and out
into the community in which we live.Professional performers use aspects of the performing arts including comedy, music and drama, in the relaxed, entertaining style of a cabaret. It is very much a first step introduction to the Gospel for those who have often never walked into a church before. Events can be performed off church premises or many churches use their own buildings and transform them into a relaxed inviting area with clever use of things like lighting and seating.
Why?
Chrysalis was founded in 1991 by Mandy Watsham and Nicki Matthews – 2 singers from non-churched backgrounds who met in the world of Musical Theatre. They recognised the popularity of their work and wanted to harness that so it could be used by the ‘local church’ as a non-threatening, outreach presentation – to break down barriers and misconceptions that people often have about Christianity.
What do people think?
Let the last word be from someone who has actually seen them recently: John Shepherd – Minister of Emmanuel Church said - “Chrysalis once again provided us with an evening of wonderfully high quality music. The music and images gently pointed the audience to the Creator who lies behind creation. This was a gentle bridge building event, rather than a full on evangelistic event. It was an event where guests would go away thinking ‘That was a great evening, I could come back to something else like that at church!’”
