communion, celiac disease, and you.

Recently, I came up against yet another hurdle in my life with Celiac Disease...what does the Celiac do when it's time to take Communion?

(Let me preface this blog post by saying I don't care what religion you are, or if you're no religion at all; that's not the point. If you have Celiac Disease, you're more than welcome here. These are just my thoughts and my feelings; feel free to skip this post if you want.)

I was told I have Celiac Disease on July 14, 2011. Shortly after, we had Communion at church. I belong to one of the largest mainstream Protestant denominations in the world, and it's basically up to each local church how often they celebrate Communion. Some do it every couple of weeks, once a month, a few times a year, it just depends on each local church and their pastor.We have communion about six to eight times a year. I was fortunate enough to find out beforehand the last time, and came prepared with my own rice cracker. This was early in my diagnosis, so I didn't even think about possible cross-contamination of the little cups of juice.

Since then, however, I have learned a lot more about cross-contamination, and when I showed up at church on Sunday morning (my daughter and I have to be there at 8:30 due to music practice being at that time) and learned we were having Communion, I kind of panicked. I wasn't prepared!

The last time we had communion, I found out the previous Sunday, but Pastor forgot to tell me this time. In his defense, I haven't been diagnosed for long, I don't live at his house, and I'm sure he had many other things on his mind besides my gluten intolerance! So I asked him; were the juice cups filled before or after he tore up the bread into little pieces? He told me that the bread was done at his house...then I could see him thinking...and he didn't know if the cups were contaminated or not. So, he said that if I wanted to fill my own cup, that was fine.

Fortunately, there is a Walmart right up the street from the church, and they happen to sell a few gluten-free products. I dashed over there when music practice was over (I don't attend a Sunday School class and church service doesn't start until 10:30, so I had time). I had been looking for an opportunity to try the Glutino Original Crackers, so this gave me a good excuse. They are kinda like a Ritz, only not quite as flaky and less salty and definitely less tasty. I do wish they were less than five bucks for a 4.4-ounce box, though; a one-pound box of Ritz Crackers is about two dollars. I grabbed the crackers and some grape juice and went back to the church, where I made sure I had my own communion cup already filled and sitting on the piano where I could reach it. I also talked to the ushers who serve the musicians and told them I was set. I had talked to them on the previous occasion about Celiac Disease, so they knew why I was being so particular.

I will give you this piece of advice; if you do decide to use the Glutino crackers, you might try using only a half or a quarter of a cracker. I used a whole one, and I was seriously chewing and chewing and chewing for the entire prayer! Luckily, Pastor can be eloquent, so I had a little time to suck on the cracker a bit and get it all good and soggy before it was time to drink the little cup of juice. I also keep a small bottle of water by my chair, and while everyone was praying I took a little sip to help wash it all down.

Now, this was just my experience; I have talked to my pastor and his wife and told them about my special dietary needs, so they are fully aware of what is going on. Fortunately for me, my pastor is understanding. Also, since I am part of the musicians, I'm often involved in some behind-the-scenes work in the regular Sunday services that allows me to do things like prepare my own juice cup.

For the Protestant layperson, I would suggest that you first go to your minister and talk to them about what is going on. Be prepared to explain what Celiac Disease is and any special safeguards you use at home to ensure that there is no gluten cross-contamination. Ask what they might suggest to ensure that you do not become contaminated by the bread or wafer and cups used in Communion. If possible, talk to the ushers who serve you, and maybe to whomever is in charge of preparing Communion. Tell them of your special dietary needs and maybe they can help; be prepared to make the suggestion that they might wear different gloves for the bread and the juice prep, or at least that they wash their hands between the steps to avoid cross-contamination. It will, however, take a certain amount of trust on your part that they will remember to do it.

You might be able to bring in your own bread or wafer or cracker and possibly even your own juice. Ask your pastor if you can take home some of the little communion cups so you can fill them out of your own juice. Most pews have little holes to put your empty cups in, so maybe you could sit your filled cup there during the service until it is time. You might also look into pre-filled communion cups; however, the only ones I have found have a wafer with them, and they are not gluten-free. There are a few companies that make gluten-free communion wafers for Protestant denominations, and maybe you can bring those with you as a substitute.

For Catholics...from what I have been able to find, host wafers that are "quibus glutinum ablatum est", or "that are gluten-free", are not allowed; however, "low-gluten" hosts are allowed as long as there is enough gluten present to qualify the host as bread:

I. Concerning permission to use low-gluten altar breads:

• A. This may be granted by Ordinaries to priests and lay persons affected by celiac disease, after presentation of a medical certificate.
• Conditions for the validity of the matter:
  • 1) Special hosts quibus glutinum ablatum est are invalid matter for the celebration of the Eucharist;
  • 2) Low-gluten hosts are valid matter, provided that they contain the amount of gluten sufficient to obtain the confection of bread, that there is no addition of foreign materials, and that the procedure for making such hosts is not such as to alter the nature of the substance of the bread.

You could try talking to your minister or priest or whoever it is in charge of administering you Communion;  some Catholics are allowed to omit the wafer. Also, there is an order of nuns who make a very low-gluten wafer; it is tested as containing 0.01% gluten, which is extremely low. You might check into whether your priest will allow this.

I don't claim to be a learned theologian; I honestly don't care if you're Christian, pagan, atheist, or whatever. Celiac Disease hurts, no matter who you are. After all, we're all in this together.