Gluten Free Communion -- Does Your Church Offer It?

BLOG HOP, DAY 10: At GlutenFreeTravelSite, our goal is to make it easy for anyone following a gluten free diet to find safe places to dine -- both in their area and when they travel. Since partipating in Holy Communion is such an integral part of most Christians' lives, we wanted to help visitors to our site also find churches that offer gluten-free (or low gluten) wafers/hosts. 

We recently began encouraging users of our site to submit “reviews” of churches offering gluten-free communion. You can find these reviews mixed in among the other reviews on our site, which are organized by location. So, for example, if you're traveling to Chicago and want to find a church where you can safely participate in communion, search reviews for the Chicago area.

We don't have many churches reviewed on our site  yet, and we need help spreading the word. If you or someone you know attends a church that offers gluten-free communion wafers/hosts, please submit a review to our site. The procedure is the same as it is for submitting a review of a restaurant or other establishment. Simply go to Submit Review, choose the location where the church is located, and follow the prompts from there.

Please help other Christians that are recently diagnosed with Celiac, new to the area, or visiting your area to find churches where they can fully participate in communion.

A special note if you are Catholic: The Catholic Church in particular is rooted in Scripture and Tradition. In keeping with the belief that Jesus used wheaten bread at the Last Supper, the Church has required that breads used for communion be made with wheat and contain gluten.

Thanks to the research of the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, a company was found that produces wheat starch, which is wheat that has had most of its gluten removed. After much trial-and-error, the Benedictine Sisters were able to make low-gluten bread out of this special wheat starch and water.

These wafers meet both the stringent requirements of the Catholic Church as well as the requirements of the gluten-free community, as confirmed by data from the Center for Celiac Research. You can learn more about the wafers – and order 20 wafers for $5.15, plus shipping and handling by calling 800-223-2772 or visiting their website.

Please share your thoughts in a comment below -- and receive one entry into our giveaway of a $25 P.F. Chang's gift card, to be selected at random from all entries received by May 18, 2012, the last day of our Blog hop. Each person is allowed one entry/comment per day for each of the 10 days of posts (May 7-11 and May 14-18), for a total of 10 entries on THIS Blog. You have the same opportunity for entering a total of 10 times for the giveaways on the other 9 Blogs listed below. The giveaway is limited to U.S. residents who are 18 years or older. The Giveaway begins May 7, 2012, and ends at 11:59 pm Eastern Time on May 18, 2012. No purchse is necessary. Odds of winning are based on the number of entries. The winner will be randomly chosen and contacted by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond, a new winner will be randomly chosen. 

Would you like to get more great gluten-free tips on baking, dining out, and kitchen tips? Check out today's posts from other Blog Hop participants: 

Getting Started - Linda at The Gluten-Free Homemaker 
Resources – Wendy at Celiacs in the House
Eating Out – Heather at Gluten-Free Cat
Frugal Tips – Janelle at Gluten Freely Frugal
Cooking – Carrie at Ginger Lemon Girl
Baking – Jules at Jules Gluten Free
Kids – Lynn at Lynn’s Recipe Adventures
Lunch Boxes – Tessa at Tessa the Domestic Diva
Shopping – Laura at Gluten Free Pantry