Anyone LDS? How Do You Handle The Sacrament Bread?

[terpeng]

My 16 yr old DD was diagnosed with Celiac Disease last week. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, (LDS) we have sacrament of bread and water each week. The bread is one small torn piece, I would say about the size of a nickel. We asked the bishop permission to subsitute gluten free bread, but were told no, but that we could do home sacrament. I don't want to have to do that for the rest of her life. Anyone else LDS and have this problem? How do I get the bishop to agree to let us bring in some gluten-free bread in a ziploc bag? Is there any info I can show him? His attitude is "It's only one small bite once a week. That's so small I won't hurt her."

[kareng]

Would it help to show him info from a doctor?

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I don't believe that God wants her to stay sick. God made us smart and he wants us to use our brains. We have discovered what makes her sick. Knowing that the wheat makes her sick, but still giving it to her, dishonors God's gift. Maybe someone on here has an LDS branch that does gluten-free and you can show that info to him, too.

[mamaw]

I firmly believe what Kareng stated. He must not want to be troubled & he for sure lacks knowledge of celiac disease.... I would supply him with every report I could find & also send it to the higher authority in your church.and have a meeting with the higher suthority. If that doesn't work I would find a new place to pray...

blessings

mamaw

[loneferret]

Here's a snip from Wikipedia (for what it's worth)

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In the Christian Eucharist a wafer or small piece of wheat bread is eaten (see Sacramental bread).

A typical wafer weighs about half a gram[89] Wheat flour contains around 10 to 13% gluten, so a single communion

wafer may have more than 50 mg of gluten, an amount which will harm the health of many coeliac patients especially

if consumed every day (see Diet above). Many Christian churches offer their communicants gluten-free alternatives,

usually in the form of a rice-based cracker or gluten-free bread.

These include United Methodist, Christian Reformed, Episcopal, Lutheran, Roman Catholic

and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[90]

As others have just said, I go higher up the chain of command.

Good luck.

[notme]

i am not lds (i'm methodist) we have communion once a month and i do exactly that: bring a tiny piece of bread in a snacky ziplok bag and when it's time to go up to the altar, i take it out. our pastor brings out torn bread for everyone but when he gets to me i open my hand (have spoken abt this to him prior) and he blesses it just like he blesses everybody else's bread. the wine is grape juice and i checked the ingredients so no substitution needed. is this a special kind of bread? like made by priests or unleavened or something necessary for the sacrament? because the same could be said to him: it's only one little piece for him (or her) to bless and not nitpick what it's made of?

[Jungle]

Although not LDS, but Christian, I was bring a piece of bread and then bringing it out at the appropriate time for the past few months. Last week my pastor asked about how to make the communion bread for everyone gluten-free. I was surprised and happy to be included.

[kareng]

Here's a snip from Wikipedia (for what it's worth)

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As others have just said, I go higher up the chain of command.

Good luck.

Actually, for the Catholic church this is not true. They have gotten it into their heads that it must contain wheat. There is a very low low gluten wafer they will accept. However, receiving the wine ( blood of Christ) is considered equal to the wafer.

Not trying to start a religious debate....just offer solutions.

[loneferret]

Actually, for the Catholic church this is not true. They have gotten it into their heads that it must contain wheat. There is a very low low gluten wafer they will accept. However, receiving the wine ( blood of Christ) is considered equal to the wafer.

Not trying to start a religious debate....just offer solutions.

That's why I wrote in "for what it's worth". But I'm not surprised.

IMO, it comes down to the priest. My cousin's a priest, and he sees no problem with a gluten free alternative. Which is why I think a good long intelligent conversation with your priest/pastor/<insert name here> is something that needs to be done. If he/her won't agree, go see his/her boss and start over. I do think faith is important, you kinda need to be healthy to practice your faith.

Just my 2cents CAD

[psawyer]

This topic is very old, but may be of some help: None of the participants there have been here recently.

[DianeMu]

I am Catholic, but I talked to my priest who offered to buy rice host. But he also said that God knows our intentions. If our intention is to receive but we can not - God knows that! Intention goes a long way. We receive Communion in the form of Bread and Wine and in receiving one we believe we are receiving the body and blood of Christ. I know beliefs differ from one Christian religion to another - but I hope this helps.

[thleensd]

I read an article about a family in Rexburg ID that would bring their own bread for their family. They had to get some buy in so the teenage boys that handle it knew about how easy cross contamination was. Turns out there were others in the ward that needed to be gluten-free and eventually they had a whole tray of gluten-free bread that went to those who needed it.

Keep talking to leadership. Your DD should in NO WAY compromise her diet. If nothing else, bring a bite of your own bread/cracker and just eat that.

[StepbyStep]

I am Lutheran, and we are lucky that our church offers gluten-free wafers to take when you come to the communion rail. I'm not sure how I will handle things when we visit my father-in-law's much smaller church (I was just diagnosed two weeks ago), but may use a snack bag and my own bread as others have suggested.

I hope you can convince the leadership in your church that just as they would not insist someone with a peanut allergy eat something with peanuts, they should not discount the damage a small amount of gluten can cause to someone with celiac disease.

[deinanthe]

My mother is LDS and has celiac. There is no reason in the world that you can't be accommodated. Yes, you need to go to a higher authority if the bishop will not help. For my mother, someone else would bring a piece of gluten-free bread that would be served first to the celiacs in the ward (there are 3 in her church). That worked for a time, but then she had a minor gluten reaction one Sunday which she thinks may have been from a contaminated hand or serving tray. She now has permission to bring her own little bit of gluten-free bread in a tiny Rubbermaid container with a lid. They keep the lid on, and when they get to her, the lid gets popped off and the bread dropped into her hand. Nobody else touches it. Works great.

[Brooksbelle]

I was thinking about this the other day. I'm a Seventh-day Adventist and we usually have communion 4 times a year. I think I'll let my pastor know (small church) and see if I can just bring my own and see if he'll "prayer" it in when they bless the emblems (what we call the bread and grape juice). I usually sit near the front so my cracker should be close enough to count when being blessed! Seriously though, I do want to be included as this is a really beautiful service and a big part of my belief system Fortunately, our Pastor has food intolerences of his own (and a good sense of humor) so I think he'll accomodate my needs with no problem.

[Cattknap]

I supply the sacrament gluten-free bread for the 5 people with celiac in our ward. I would ask the Stake President about this because I believe your Bishop is incorrect in not allowing you to bring gluten free bread or rice cakes for the sacrament.

[glutenfreeinminnesota]

Wow I never thought of bringing my own bread!! Seems so simple, I will have to do that...For now I just don't take it. God knows my intentions

[wheeleezdryver]

I posted a blog here last year about talking to my bishop and what i myself do. I'll see if i can find the link to it in a minute.

But, I'll go ahead and summarize- (

keep in mind I'm self- diagnosed, so don't know if I'm gluten intolerant or celiac) luckily, my bishop knew a little bit about gluten intolerance. But he did say, 'maybe you can tolerate just having the sacrament bread every week'. But he did say he would talk to other Bishops at a bishops meeting, which he did-- turns out one of the other bishops' is gluten intolerant or has celiac (I can't remember which), so was able to explain things to my Bishop (and the others as well).

i didn't like the idea of injesting even just that little bit of gluten once a week. (and now, a year later, I'm glad I didn't go with doing that. it would have impaired my healing!)

For me, since it's just me that I know of in my ward that's dealing with this (all though I've heard tell there may be one or two others), and with my husband having a disability, wether or not i am able to get to church (let alone early!) and where I/we sit on the days we can go is always rather unpredictable, so i choose to just bring a piece of bread in a baggie, like others have suggested. i don't have have it put on a bread tray & blessed, I keep it with me. God knows my little piece of bread is there & needs to be blessed, too . and, if i forget to bring a piece of bread, sometimes I don't take the water, either, sometimes I go ahead and do it.... God knows my reasons . i have to admit, when you don't take the bread, but take the water, it's kinda fun to confuse the deacons:)

here's a link to the blog I posted: (lets see if this works!):

[Gluten free Gaynor]

I'm a recently diagnosed cealiac and a member of the church.

I mentioned the problem to a member of the bishopbric and he suggested I bring in a small white plate, and a piece of gluten free bread. The priest takes my bread out of the bag after the rest of the table is set, they break my bread first, then the other bread. After it's blessed a deacon brings the bread to me and my daughter who is also cealic, returns the plate to the table and picks up a tray. The rest proceeds as usual. The member of the bishopbric talked to the young men and explained the what and why to them, my son is one of the priests takes the bread up to the table for me and reminds the others to break my bread first. So far so good.

We do have a really great bishop who really appreciates how important it is to take the sacrament and not damage my health doing so. I hope this helps. I would explain the problem to each member of the bishopbric and if you don't get help see the stake president.

[Adalaide]

I know this topic is kind of old, but since it's been brought up I'll pipe in. I was worried about this myself and stopped in my bishop's office. Apparently I needn't have worried as we have ourselves quite a collections of celiacs in our ward. Someone already supplies Schar crackers and we have been designated the front right area to sit. Yup, an entire area of the cordoned off for celiacs. Okay not really, lots of other people sit there but it's just easier for the boys if all us celiacs are in one place. I guess I am fortunate to be in a ward where there are so many who had already addressed the issue. There is always someone who is bringing something I can eat to relief society functions and such also which is pretty awesome. (I spoke with her at great length before ever partaking, she has gluten free and allergen free kitchen. Wow... and I thought I had it rough!)

[RudyM69]

Wow I never thought of bringing my own bread!! Seems so simple, I will have to do that...For now I just don't take it. God knows my intentions

 

 

Wow I never thought of bringing my own bread!! Seems so simple, I will have to do that...For now I just don't take it. God knows my intentions

We have a few that are gluten-free at our Ward. We bring a slice of gluten-free bread before Sacrament meeting in a baggie. We tell the priest holders to break our bread first to eliminate cross contamination. The Sacrament is passed out to all except those that are gluten-free. When to the Deacons or Priest are fed the Sacrament, one of them will bring it down to us. Hope this helps. Plus you may want to have it announced so that all the gluten-free people can sit in one section. Just makes it easier to pass out.

[Jared M]

I am LDS and my 12 year Oldson has Celiac and I am very intolerant. We also have three other families with Celiac or severe gluten or egg allergies. Our bishop has changed all the bread for sacrament with gluten and egg free bread. I've shown the leadership how to clean the trays and no one has had an issue. Your bishop needs to be educated. After all, what would Jesus do?  There is no church protocol that states what the bread has to be. You could use rice checks or cinnamon roles, just saying. Another idea is to have a small bag of already broken gluten free bread that is placed on the tray and blessed. Then have the Decon know where you are sitting so he can bring it to you. I saw this down in SLC where General Authorities where present.