Gluten-free: BRILLIANT!
The first Sunday of every month is our community’s traditional time to celebrate the Lord’s Table. It probably looks like any other communion celebration, but it does not sound like any other I have been a part of. As a church leadership team we found that there were a growing number of people who could not participate in communion due to gluten allergies. One of our resourceful volunteers found gluten-free “communion wafers”.
I love these things. They crunch like it’s nobody’s business and it is BRILLIANT!
Why? Quite simply when we take the “bread” and eat you know you are doing it with everyone else. Our Gymnasanctatorium has painfully bad acoustics and so when 150 or so people go crunching into the gluten-free wafer it ignites a sound that you feel in your chest. You know that you are not alone. You know that you are with others and they are with you. It is an audible reminder that sharing the Lord’s Supper is something you do in community.
We live in a day where community is a buzzword as opposed to a reality. We have air conditioning, TV, and attached garages, all of which are designed to keep us apart from other people in the name of “comfort”. It is comfortable because when I, the chief of sinners, interact with other people I make mistakes and I say things that hurt them. Isolation protects me from this. It is comfortable.
The communion table is supposed to draw us out from isolation into communion with one another. It is a time for us to be caught up in the spiritual mystery and grace of the supper where we remember Jesus and what he has done for us. It is a time for us to celebrate together the beauty and magnitude of the grace we have in Jesus. It is to shape us and mold us and change our identity and help us remember anew the reality of our being in-Christ together.
A gluten-free wafer – The sound of community and communion.
As one of thise people who is “gluten intolerant”, it sure is nice to partake in communion again with the fellowship of the family. I’d often thought of BYO (bring your own) communion, but can you imagine the awkwardness of being the only one in the room with a CRUNCH echo!!!!!
Bill, that would be classic! I am so grateful for the body of Christ and the fact that we get to experience this with you. It awes me every time!
My sis gave me some wafers to bring to church… but I always forget to bring them on communion Sundays. My fave communion/Celiac's memory was at Andy's home church in MI. It's the kind of church where everyone goes up front and the pastor puts the bread in your hand. This church does not used unleavened bread… in fact I held out my hand and that pastor stuck what amounted to a dinner rolls sized hunk of bread in my hand. I just clapped the other hand over it and held them that way till I returned to my seat… but I was giggling the whole time. When we sat down Andy asked me what I was laughing at and I opened my hands to the huge chunk of gluten in them. He started laughing too and then had seconds!! It would be nice to take communion with the body.
Amy, that's awesome! It's interesting, we use grape juice so alcoholics can take communion but most churches don't take into account Celiac's, sad. Your story is brilliant!