Celiac disease

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rpyne
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Celiac disease

#1

Post by rpyne »

I know that this question is not particularly technical, but I also know that there is a wealth of knowledge and experience here.

My question is, how have any of you dealt with accommodating someone with Celiac disease taking the sacrament?

Thank you for any insights.
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kd7mha
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#2

Post by kd7mha »

those that I have seen have brought their own bread in a bag and given to the Priests blessing the sacrament then either

1. the Deacons then make sure that that tray goes down the proper isle
2. one of the priests would take a separate tray to the individuals
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chrissv
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#3

Post by chrissv »

Both my Bishop and his son (a Deacon) are gluten-intolerant. They have a small container of a piece of rice cake on the tray with the rest of the broken bread. The challenge is making sure that container gets on the tray which is passed to the Bishop and his son.

It's a separate little container, so it doesn't take a separate tray.
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aebrown
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#4

Post by aebrown »

rpyne wrote:My question is, how have any of you dealt with accommodating someone with Celiac disease taking the sacrament?

Our ward has about 5 people with special sacrament needs. The teachers prepare a special tray just for those needs (a pretzel, or a wrapped piece of bread brought by the family). One deacon has the responsibility to locate each of the three families involved, the priests make sure he gets that tray, and he takes the special tray to those families first, then continues passing with a regular tray.

We used to put the special items on one tray, but we had problems with the wrong people taking the special items, and we also ended up with more people with special needs, so we've found it to be easier to just have one special tray.
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dandavidgarcia
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#5

Post by dandavidgarcia »

We have a couple people in the ward with Celiac, one is my daughter. A separate tray is used and one Deacon carries two trays on his route...eventually finding the family that has the member in need. In most cases, at least ours, the whole family partakes of the non-wheat product, to keep things a bit more sorted out in that row.

My only suggestion is to be sensitive to possible contamination issues...meaning, it should be understood that in some cases even a small bit of wheat flour or bread, if it gets on the member's sacrament, can cause significant intestinal problems for the member. Not just an upset stomach, but damage to their body. Priests should not remove the product from a napkin or bag and reposition it on a tray if it's already there, break it up (further than it may already be), etc., if their hands have touched a wheat product. There will be times when the product arrives late and handed to a Priest just before sacrament meeting starts--they should do their best to handle it with care.

Good question, so thanks for asking!
rpyne
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#6

Post by rpyne »

One of my big concerns has been the contamination issue. We are an old ward so we have the old metal trays. We have purchased a brand new plastic tray that we will be labeling for this purpose. My current plan is to put labels inside the bottom of the tray with large bold lettering "GLUTEN FREE", "DO NOT PUT WHEAT PRODUCTS IN THIS TRAY". We are also planning to have a training session with the Aaronic Priesthood covering how important it is to not contaminate the special tray or its contents.
dandavidgarcia
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#7

Post by dandavidgarcia »

Those are good ideas, Rpyne. One thing to add that I think is valuable...just as some members may be anxious/concerned at possible contamination (being on a table full of bread), there are some members who may not be overly concerned with contamination. I knew a member in another ward that would just drop off his cracker in the tray and didn't care if it mixed with other items. Same with another friend who just picks croutons out of salads and is OK with it. Usually it's because they don't feel effects from small (or large) doses of gluten.

I don't like to tell these folks they need to be more careful, but whether the effects are felt or not--it can be different for those with Celiac disease--there is damage being done to the intestines if gluten is ingested. That's a long way of saying that adopting a consistent practice like you are suggesting is a great idea for everyone.
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#8

Post by russellhltn »

A possibly silly question from someone who knows very little about this: Is there a reason to not have gluten-free bread for everyone? Is it a cost issue, or a taste issue? The reason I ask is that it seems that it would solve the contamination and logistics issues.
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rpyne
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#9

Post by rpyne »

I think it is a combination issue. Yes, gluten free items are usually quite expensive and most people don't have them on hand so it would be difficult to rotate the responsibility to provide the bread for the sacrament. It can also be an issue of taste and appearance in that most people will not be familiar with gluten free items, which are usually a cracker of rice crisp rather than what most think of as bread.
rpyne
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#10

Post by rpyne »

dandavidgarcia wrote:Those are good ideas, Rpyne. One thing to add that I think is valuable...just as some members may be anxious/concerned at possible contamination (being on a table full of bread), there are some members who may not be overly concerned with contamination. I knew a member in another ward that would just drop off his cracker in the tray and didn't care if it mixed with other items. Same with another friend who just picks croutons out of salads and is OK with it. Usually it's because they don't feel effects from small (or large) doses of gluten.

I don't like to tell these folks they need to be more careful, but whether the effects are felt or not--it can be different for those with Celiac disease--there is damage being done to the intestines if gluten is ingested. That's a long way of saying that adopting a consistent practice like you are suggesting is a great idea for everyone.

I am aware of the contamination issues because I have a niece that when she was diagnosed with Celiac was told to buy new pans and dishes to use because the ones she had were contaminated and could not be adequately cleaned to remove the contamination to an acceptable level. She now takes her own cooking utensiles with her when she travels.

The sister that we are working to accomodate is a recent convert. She tried taking the sacrament the sunday after her baptism, hoping that the small amount would be tolerable, but ended up very ill for several days afterword.
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