Legal Question in DUI Law in California

Re: Serving Alcohol To Minors

Churches give the alcohol away, they don't sell it. That probably helps them escape culpability with regard to some of the laws. Also, the minors probably have the consent of their parents to consume the alcohol and that is an exception to the minor-consumption laws of many states.

Re: Serving Alcohol To Minors

The serving of wine in connection with the Christian sacrament of Holy Communion is generally recognized as part of the religious service, and no minor usually becomes intoxicated thereby; and no jury would convict a priest or minister for this, assuming some prosecuting attorney somewhere were foolish enough to risk public outrage by bringing criminal charges.

Other, less popular alleged religious sacraments that violate the law have been the subject of Supreme Court cases and acts of Congress. See, e.g. Smith v. Employment Division (Supreme Court decision re: Native American Church/sacramental consumption of peyote); the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

It remains the law in the western states within the 9th Circuit that members of the Rastafarian faith may lawfully possess and smoke marijuana as a religious sacrament, I forget the citation.

There are many other cases and laws on the tension between religious freedom and "generally applicable law," but using a search engine on the above terms should be a good starting point for further research.

Re: Serving Alcohol To Minors

Churches can't legally serve alcohol to minors, but if you are referring to communion wine, it is reasonably ignored, since it is not for the purpose of 'drinking', but symbolic and religious, and a Negligible amount.