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From:
Tori Ross <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 9 Dec 1999 23:07:31 -0600
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<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Here is a summary of the replies I recieved about GF communion wafers.
According to my priest, neither Meyer Vogelpohl nor Cavanaugh Co. still
make them.  He has spoken to a priest in Winnetka, IL, and "we're all
having trouble finding them now that they have stopped making them."

The only other source mentioned in the answers I've received was the one
in England, also just posted by Scott Adams.

Summary:
1 - Meyer Vogelpohl
2 - Cavanaugh Co.; one was referred by a religious supply store in
Queens to their toll-free number, 1-800-635-0568  (I have not tried this
number yet)

Alternative suggestions and ways to handle this:
substitute rice crackers, bread, biscuit, wafers, etc....

If you can make these from scratch why not just cut out disks from the
rice paper used in Asian spring rolls?
*************
You can order gluten-free communion wafers from:
Dumont Ltd.
High Street,
Lyminge,
Folkstone,
Kent
CT18 8EL
**************
Hi.  I am also an Episcopalian.  I don't think that my minister is
violating any church rules.  He lets me bring a very small piece of GF
bread every time I go and I wrap it in foil and put it on the plate.
***********
Well, I would not refuse such a gracious and loving offer [to let the
priest's wife make gluten-free wafers for you from scratch] -- the
couple clearly understands the importance of being able to partake in
communion.  If they want to give you such a gift of love as baking the
host for you -- I encourage you to accept their gesture (and ask for a
copy of the recipe for future reference!).  My pastor (Methodist) is
married to a Korean woman, and she always has rice cakes for me at
communion.  She also takes great pains to be sure there is something
which I can eat anytime there is refreshments at the church.  To her, it
is a gesture of love, and I am as appreciative of the love behind the
food as I am of the food and the host at communion time.  If the body of
Christ is to be held together by love, remember that sometimes we need
to allow ourselves to be on the receiving end.
**********
This may seem silly to you, but for my 10-year-old son, we use a small
piece of a plain rice cake for communion.  It is placed in a small round
container about the size of a quarter, called a pix.  That way, it can't
be accidentally given to someone else, or be touched by the other wafers
on the platter.  This has always worked fine for us.  After all, what is
a communion wafer but grain that is blessed during the celebration of
the Eucharist?
*********
I don't know where to buy communion wafers, but I will tell you what I
do in this instance.  I too am an Episcopalian.  Here at home, we take
slices of rice bread, toast them, cut off the crusts, and cut them into
quarter inch squares.  Then we put them on a cookie sheet in the oven
and bake them at 250 degrees for about 20 minutes, turning them on
occasion to get all of the moisture out of them.  If they aren't oven
dried, they turn moldy green.  Then we put them in a zip lock bag and
keep them in the freezer.  I remove four at a time, and put these in the
smallest zip lock bag there is (I think it is called a snack bag), and I
carry these in my purse.  They are good for a month of Sundays,
literally.  Since they are well dried, they never turn green, even out
of the freezer.  Every Sunday morning, I put one on the patten at the
back of the church, to be brought up with the communion wafers during
the offertory.  Everyone on the altar knows that that little square is
mine, and usually the altar personnel inform a visiting priest who it is
for.  If that hasn't happened, when it is my turn at the communion rail,
I put my finger on my rice bread, if I am being offered one of the usual
wafers, or I say quietly "the rice bread".  I always sit on the same
side of the church, so that if there are two priests distributing the
bread, my little "wafer" is in the hands of the correct priest.  On the
rare occasion when it ends up in the wrong hands, the priest walks over
to the other person and retrieves it.

 When my purse's zip lock is empty, I put in four more, and that way, I
don't have to remember every Sunday to bring my "wafer".  If I attend
communion during the week, usually the paten is not placed at the back
of the church, so I then find the priest before the service and give her
my "wafer" so it will be with the others.  This system has worked well
for me for years, and having your bread "wafer" on the same plate as the
other wafers won't run into cross contamination, since they are quite
firm and don't spread crumbs.
*******
As a member of the Anglican communion in Australia I too have the same
problem.  What I have done is to take a piece of a rice biscuit to be
put on the paten and blessed along with the other wafers. You could give
the priest a small container with rice cakes and then he/she could break
off a piece for you each week. I have no trouble with cross
contamination so you are fortunate to have someone who will provide a
separate paten.

    This plan also works when you celebrate the Lord's supper with other
denominations who use real bread.
********
I buy a packet of ordinary rectangular thin rice wafers and break a
small piece off, about 1 inch square and take that to church with me
each week, taking it to the priest and placing it on a paten. That way
also, if we have a visiting priest I can explain the situation to him,
and because the communion wafer is so different to the usual round ones,
in shape as well as substance, he cannot get confused. A packet lasts a
long time!
*******
When I called the Episcopal Center in NYC, the priest in charge said
that first there was no regulation regard what material the wafer had to
be made from and two, that we become licensed to handle the wafer.  I
was speaking to my rector this morning after services, and we have, so
far, decided that I will hold the filled pyx and place it on the altar
before Mass and that someone will get it at Communion.  I assume that I
will handle it myself since to do otherwise will contaminate it.  We are
awaiting the order to come in from England.  Lord knows how long that
will take.
*****
You are SO fortunate!  Every priest I have talked to - Roman Catholic -
has told me that the staff of life is always wheat, and therefore they
cannot bless a rice-based wafer for me, and I have to abstain...   =(
*****
from the daughter of a Baptist minister: I think that the good Lord
would understand if you used bread you can eat for communiion.  Jesus
when he broke bread did not get it at a grocery.
******
I am Lutheran and my pastor suggested a small piece of rice cake and
grape juice.  This has worked out fine for several years.  I too was
very glad to be able to start taking communion
*****
I use Hol-Grain Brown rice crackers.  They keep well and look close to
regular hosts, although most Lutheran churches use regular bread for
communion.
******************
And, lastly, several folks suggested making your own.  Ask your priest
if he/she knows about any particular requirements, then go into the
kitchen.  Here is a recipe to try (thanks, Lisa):

This recipe makes enough for 500 people. I just reduced it significantly
and made enough to last me for a while. It keeps in the freezer. These
aren't necessarily wafers, but tortilla-like. I broke them apart

      6 cups GF flour (I used Jowar/sorghum)
      1 cup olive oil (it didn't take much with the amount of flour I used)
      1 cup milk ( I think any lactose-free milk should do as well)
      2 eggs
     [I used a tiny bit of xanthan gum, enough to make the dough sticky
enough to work with.]

Mix together well and knead and roll out thin. Cut around a small saucer
dish. Bake 7 or 8 minutes on each side in a 350 degree oven. Looks like
tortillas. Serves about 500.

Many thanks to all the wonderful respondents!  I'll see what works best
with my priest.

Peace,  Tori Ross,   Nashville, TN

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