Examples of missionaries using alternative foods in place of bread and wine for communion under special circumstances

July 22, 2025

Among Inuit Christian communities in the Arctic, believers have used fresh seal heart as the bread for communion.[1]

In some remote churches in Irian Jaya (West New Guinea), Indonesia, missionaries and local believers have used roasted sweet potato pieces as a substitute for the communion bread, and red berry juice or even plain water in place of wine.[2]


  1. Kenn Harper, "Coming Up Jesusie: Early Inuit Reception of Christianity," Rupert’s Land News, accessed July 22, 2025, https://rupertslandnews.ca/coming-up-jesusie-early-inuit-reception-of-christianity/.
  2. "The New Missionary," Time, November 26, 1982, accessed July 22, 2025, https://time.com/archive/6857108/the-new-missionary/.