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updated Jan 30, 2011
The Gluten Free Community
at
Church, Work, School,
College,
at Play and when Traveling
Gluten free and similar diets present
slightly different challenges in each area of our social lives.
These challenges are workable. With knowledge and advance
preparation, gluten free individuals can cope without major disruptions in
their lifestyle.
Note: this page is
unfinished.
Church
Communion issues focus
on use of a wheat based communion loaf or wafer, and, in the case of a
common communion cup, the wine cannot be considered gluten free.
There are several solutions for these
situations.
1. Protestants - Gluten free communion
wafers are available from
EnerG Foods, and many local health stores.
Most churches use serve wine
in separate containers preventing cross contamination. Some practice
intinction, in which a communion wafer is dipped in a common goblet of
wine or grape juice. These churches may offer a separate container
to dip gluten free wafers.
For churches that pass a
common loaf and cup the following accommodations have been used:
-
If a gluten free loaf is not available, the
individual may choose to pause momentarily over the loaf as it is passed,
touch or
nearly touch it, or hold a crumb of gluten free bread or in the
hand, motion toward the loaf and consume the gluten free crumb instead.
2.
Catholics may purchase low gluten communion wafers from
www.catholicceliacs.org.
At this time the Catholic Church does not recognize gluten free wafers as
appropriate for communion. This raises concerns for particularly
sensitive individuals.
Since wafers are dipped into
the wine (intinction) during Catholic mass, separate containers are needed
due to cross contamination.
~~~
Social communion issues
- Most of the time GF individuals can advocate and accommodate themselves.
However, this may not work well for sensitive, easily embarrassed teens or
patients too ill to use good judgment. In that case an understanding
church will recognize the issues and QUIETLY make the change without
singling out or embarrassing the ill person.
-
When such a change is needed,
each situation can vary, but it is hoped that when church elders are
approached in gracious manner, they
will also be gracious and accommodating.
-
When others do not understand,
patiently forgive them BUT be as firm as necessary to avoid gluten for
those who are your responsibility. This is not negotiable. If
they will not cooperate, avoid communion at that church and pray for a
change of heart in the group, or pray about your family's attendance there
long term.
-
In one case the church elders requested
that the ill person avoid communion for a period of time to judge
the health benefit. The ill person
cooperated and later the church honored the change. HOWEVER,
sometimes symptoms are not good indicators if other health issues prevent
obvious improvement, so this type of give and take might not always work
out. In this case a positive test is really helpful. (www.Cyrexlabs.com
provides the most detailed testing available and www.Enterolab.com is a
research test that also provides more sensitive testing. Both are
the most likely tests to catch gluten syndrome. The two types of
tests do not duplicate each other, so both could be run if a dx is
elusive. Bear in mind that negative tests are always inconclusive.)
Unfortunately
some church leaders do not grasp the emotional issues behind non
accommodation of these special needs and they lose whole families from their
churches as a result. Many families/individuals admit to avoiding
communion service completely because they cannot partake, or they
switch churches.
For church leaders who do
not understand, sharing the following true story may help.
In one instance, doubtful
church elders refused to cooperate with an emergency gluten free
substitution. A student member was experiencing gluten induced psychiatric/depression issues
and could not think logically to agree to avoid communion. The father of
the ill student explained the suspicion that gluten communion might be the
irritant, and requested to quietly provide a gluten free substitution,
several days ahead of the service. The request was refused.
The mother brought a gluten free communion substitute to the deacons
before the service and again begged that the church "tarry for them"
(1 Corinthians 11:33) in their medical distress. Her request
was again refused. Out of concern for her child she burst into tears during the
ensuing communion service. The ill student saw the mother's
tears, and out of love for mom, avoided communion after all. Before the next
service other church members investigated the matter sufficiently to
perceive the unusual needs. The GF substitution was made with full
cooperation from everyone, and within 3 weeks the student recovered
normal mental function as a direct result. The student had
previously been
misled by false negative tests and although all other gluten had been
removed from the diet due to pain and other severe issues, the student refused to avoid communion bread "because the tests were negative".
In this case this student's psychiatric distress and horrible depression
had lasted for months before the gluten free communion option was
investigated and requested by the parents.
Many hopeful gluten
intolerant patients and their uninformed fellow church members "thought"
they would not react to communion gluten because of the reverence of the
ceremony. This has not proved to be the case over and over around
the world. There are many many communion stories and published case
studies to document adverse reactions and severe damage due to communion
gluten.
WHY? No definite
researched opinion, but it is interesting to note that today's
wheat/gluten was genetically altered decades ago by x-ray irradiation and
chemical mutation*, and the gluten content has been raised significantly.
*Mendel In the Kitchen, by Nina Federoff.
Recipes for communion loaf
Feel free to contribute a
recipe or inform us of a brand of unsliced gluten free bread or a mix that
is easy to make and works well for your church.
Send recipes to
info@theglutensyndrome.net
General notes about unsliced
gluten free bread for communion.
Most unsliced gluten free
bread is best baked fresh the day before. Freezing is for
emergencies only, at least for the Kinnikinnick recipe below, as the
quality suffers. An emergency loaf does needs to be available in the
freezer, either wheat or gluten free for the odd occasion when plans go
awry. (If a wheat loaf is used, GF partakers must be iinformed and avoid
communion.) Most importantly make an emergency plan that can be
depended upon if a gf loaf fails or the person supplying the loaf forgets
or is out of commission.
In many churches the first time
a gluten free loaf was used, the loaf was frozen ahead of time and
crumbled to dust when it
was broken during the service. It pays to
experiment ahead of time but when these issues arise, sometimes quickly,
without much opportunity to shop, experiment or compare, they can be overlooked
with patience and grace.
UPDATE January
30, 2011:
2 new loaves now recently on
the market that work very well for communion are:
Udi's Gluten Free bread
-
www.udisglutenfree.com
Canyon Bakehouse -
www.canyonbakehouse.com
Call the companies and
arrange for the loaves to be left unsliced. These loaves freeze
well and are not crumbly when broken. Churches can purchase
several loaves at a time to be shipped frozen.
Many local gluten free
bakeries also produce appropriate bread that can be purchased unsliced.
Kinnikinnick mix -
This recipe is easy to make,
and works well for easy breaking and partaking. It has the texture
of a batter bread although this version uses yeast. (The mix
directions do not include added yeast.) This bread can be later
sliced and grilled with garlic butter or honey butter, or for dairy free
use coconut oil and garlic or honey.
3 cups Kinnikinnick Gluten
Free Kinni-Kwik Bread and Bun Mix. www.Kinnikinnick.com
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 t. honey or agave nectar,
sucanat or other natural sweetener to feed yeast
1 1/2 cup milk, almond milk,
rice milk or water
1 packet Rize yeast (organic
non GMO,
www.tropicaltraditions.com (Mix
directions leave yeast out)
Oil one regular size bread
pan with olive oil. Oven temperature is about 350 degrees. Experiment with
preheating the oven or turning it on when the unrisen loaf is
placed in the oven.
Warm milk or water to between
105-115 degrees, add 1/2 t honey and yeast packet. Use hand wisk or
fork to yeast into the milk and allow to "proof" or "sit" for a couple of minutes. (yeast
will activate and bubble). Note: It is worth it to purchase a
yeast thermometer.
Combine bread mix and olive
oil in mixing bowl. Add warm proofed milk/yeast liquid and beat in
mixer for 2-3 minutes. The consistency is very important so measure
carefully and pay attention. You will learn when the batter is too
stiff or a little too moist.
Pour batter into bread pan
and cover the top surface with a thin film of olive oil. Bake 350
degrees for about 45-50 minutes. This can vary depending on the
oven.
I have a convection oven and
the fan blows the bread down, so I bake this loaf in an electric roaster
with a little water in the bottom to provide steam for rising and a soft
crust. I turn on the roaster when I place the loaf in it and let the
preheat cycle do the rise. This type of strategy needs to be practiced
with each individual oven for best results. Another option is to
place the loaf in a large covered roaster pan in the convection oven.
Occasionally, not always,
Kinnikinnick Kinni-Kwik Bread and Bun Mix is available by the case of 6
for a good price on Amazon.com. Orders over $25 get free shipping.
A full bag contains 5 1/2 cups.
Ingredients:
Ingredients - White Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Pea Starch, Tapioca Starch,
Sugar, Whole Egg Powder, Malto Dextrin, Poly Dextrose, Dextrose, Pea
Protein, Glucono Delta Lactone, Egg White Powder, Fructooligosaccharide,
Pea Fibre, Sodium Carboxy Methylcellulose, Cellulose, Sodium Bicarbonate,
Rice Bran Extract, Inulin, Salt, Sodium Stearayl Lactylate, Fructose
Pamela's Wheat Free Gluten
Free Bread Mix also a yeast, sorghum based bread and produces a tasty,
breakable, bendable, moist loaf. As usual for gluten free bread, it
must be baked long enough or it will taste "uncooked", and may fall enough
after baking to have a flat appearance. Use package directions.
Sorghum gives a sweeter, chewier crumb. Note: A few people do
not digest sorghum well but usually the small amount is not an issue .
Bob's Red Mill Homemade
Wonderful Gluten Free Bread Mix is another mix used for communion by
some churches. It works better when a smaller loaf pan is used and 6
or 7 rolls are made from the extra dough. Do not fill the loaf pan
higher than 1/2 full. Too much dough seems to cause the sides to
suck in afterwards. Gluten free loaves tend to do better with a
"high crust to inside" ratio (which is why in general rolls tend to
perform better than loaves). It is best to bake it a little longer/darker
than a normal wheat loaf. This takes practice.
With this mix, the recipe
calls for 1 egg plus egg whites to equal 3/4 cup. Some have changed
to 3 whole eggs to egual 3/4 cup.
Contact Us at info@glutensensitivity.net
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