Chrysalis began in 1984 in response to mounting requests from Emmaus communities for a high school version of the Walk to Emmaus. The early development of Chrysalis was influenced by Emmaus and T.E.C. (Teens Encounter Christ), the youth expression of the Roman Catholic Cursillo. A group of high school youth and two youth leaders from Nashville attended T.E.C. in Peoria, IL, and acted as advisors to The Upper Room Staff in the creation of a unique model and name for the program. By 1994, the youth movement had grown steadily to nearly 100 Chrysalis communities across the United States, Australia, Mexico, and South Africa.

In 1989, The Upper Room sponsored the first Chrysalis Three Days for college age persons in conjunction with the Alabama/West Florida Emmaus community. Since then, a growing number of Emmaus and Chrysalis communities have chosen to offer College Age Chrysalis experience as an option in responding to the spiritual needs of college age persons who are too old for high school Chrysalis, but who feel too young for the adult-oriented Walk to Emmaus. In 1995, Northern Mississippi, North Carolina, and North Florida began establishing “College Age” Chrysalis Boards to meet the growing requests from adults and young people to have more college age experiences.

In January of 1994, Tom Cleveland, Linda Morgan, Karen Nelson, and Rev. Mark Tuttle traveled to Jackson, TN to observe a Chrysalis in hopes of bringing this ministry to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

A Board of Directors was formed and in June of 1994, Cedar Rapids Emmaus/Chrysalis Community held Flight #1 at Salem United Methodist Church in Cedar Rapids with Jim and Linda Stilwell from Jackson, TN as the first Lay Directors. This was the beginning of what became known as a “WingSpan Team” as a team came from Jackson, TN to help get the Cedar Rapids community started. Tom and Judy Cleveland and Gary and Karen Nelson served as the first Assistant Lay Directors. This gave our community a starting point for future Lay Directors. Rev. Mark Tuttle served as the Spiritual Director of Flight #1.

The Cedar Rapids Chrysalis community holds two weekends a year. One is generally held in late March and the second held on Labor Day weekend. On average, 70-80 young people attend each Chrysalis Flight. Along with 70-80 team members, each flight is quite an undertaking in itself. Flights have been held at Salem United Methodist Church in Cedar Rapids, the Assembly of God camp in Ogden, First United Methodist Church in Marshalltown, First United Methodist in Cedar Falls, Kimball Avenue United Methodist Church and Westminster Presbyterian Church in Waterloo.