Food Allergies and the Church

      Recently, I had written a post about a church not dealing well with my (and other's) food allergies at an event they were hosting, however, last night was far worse. I  communicated my needs to our district administrative assistant for an event, which she graciously passed along. Neither of us heard anything to the contrary so I walked into the meeting at 6pm, expecting to have dinner like everyone else in attendance. Instead, I stopped by the kitchen to introduce myself and was met by three message:
     I asked if the district had contacted them about my needs to which they replied "the menu was already planned" along with one of the most awful looks I have ever been given. Wow. First off, you were contacted about this seven weeks ago. Second of all there are much better ways to respond to folks with special circumstances. I was thinking about it on the drive home and was wondering how they respond to new folks in worship - new folks that don't necessary respond to God through the same method and means as them. Do they do everything they can to introduce that person to  Christ or do they simply reply "this is how we like it, become like us or leave?" Because the truth is we live in a world where needs are abundant - now I am the first person to admit that not every church can be everything to every person, but at least own that, otherwise you are giving the impression, as the CHURCH, the body of CHRIST, that this is now Christ would respond.
    Next they told me to just eat the beans, except.... they had bacon in them. So that couldn't happen. At which point I explained that I wasn't being picky, but that this was related to an allergy and I would get sick if I ate meat products. The tenor sort of changed then - but should it have? Should it have mattered why I'm a vegetarian, by ethical choice, medical necessity, or family preference? Now you are changing your tune, because I didn't fit into your assumptions when a message about a dietary need was passed on to you. There are more and more folks becoming vegetarians for medical necessity - honestly, even if I didn't have the weird weird allergy, I have had doctors  tell me more than once that if not for the fact that I was already vegetarian they would recommend I become one for other medical issues that have come up.
     Then the kicker, they look down at my plate with 4 celery sticks and 2 dinner rolls and tell me that it looks like I have enough. Really? Would that be enough for you for dinner? There are 2 food groups in small quantities there.
    Church, this is one my passions and not just for my sake. When I was taking communion once at a campus ministry I noticed that folks with gluten intolerance were being excluded because of how we served. Allergies should not prohibit people from being fully part of the fellowship of the body of Christ. Period. We shouldn't make them feel uncomfortable or small or like they are a bother because they can't eat everything you can. And it wouldn't hurt to have gluten free and vegetarian options in mind anyway, as unhealthy as our pastors are as a whole. We can do better, we can do so much better.