A Maine mother is awaiting a decision from the state’s highest court on whether she has the right to take her Christian daughter to church.
In the coming weeks, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court is expected to weigh in on a lower court’s decision, which ruled that the daughter of Emily Bickford cannot attend church or Christian events without her father’s approval.
In 2024, Portland District Court barred Bickford from reading her Bible or religious materials to her daughter Ava and taking her to church or to religious events, such as Christmas or Easter services. Ava, 12-years-old at the time, was also prohibited from contacting church friends and church members at her church, Calvary Chapel Church.
Ava’s father Matthew Bradeen, who never married Bickford but has visitation rights, sought legal intervention against such religious activities after Ava, who attended Calvary Chapel Church in Portland for three years, expressed her desire to be baptized. Ava, 11 at the time, had become a Christian in 2021, and Bickford had become a Christian in 2017. Bradeen took issue with the church because it teaches the Bible “verse by verse, chapter by chapter,” according to the custody order.
Bradeen hired Dr. Janja Lalich, a sociologist known for being an expert on cults, to testify before the court. According to Liberty Institute’s press release, Lalich claimed that the church was a “cultic” organization, because the pastor spoke with authority and affirmed that the messages he spoke from Scripture to be objective truth. She argued that cults are characterized by a charismatic leader who teaches a “transcendent belief system” offering answers and promises “some sort of salvation,” and Calvary Chapel Church fits that definition.
In 2024, the Portland District Court ruled that Bickford, who has primary custody, is a fit parent, except in religious instruction.
The order gives Bradeen full control of his daughter’s religious attendances, including control over her presence at “any other church or religious organization, or exposure to the teachings of any religious philosophy or of the Bible in general” and gives him “the right to make final decisions regarding [the daughter’s] participation in other churches and religious organizations.”
Bickford and Ava have suggested other church options to him, but he has refused all church suggestions.
Liberty Counsel, who is representing Bickford in the case, appealed the lower court ruling, arguing that the ruling violates parental rights and the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment, and the legal standard of “immediate and substantial” harm was not met, and there was no findings of abuse or neglect.
“Ava wants to attend church and be with her Sunday school friends,” wrote Mat Staver, the founder and chairman of the Liberty Counsel. “But this custody order has completely cut her off from Calvary and her friends, and from growing her Christian faith. This has been devastatingly heart-wrenching for both Emily and Ava. This has been going on since December 2024.”
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court heard oral arguments in November and will determine in the coming weeks if the lower court overstepped its authority. If the court rules in Bickford’s favor, the case will return to the lower court. Bickford will appeal to the Supreme Court if the state rules in Bradeen’s favor, according to a Liberty Counsel press release.
“Calvary Chapel is not a cult,” Staver said. “This custody order banning Emily Bickford from taking her child to a Christian church because of its biblical teachings violates the First Amendment. The breadth of this court order is breathtaking because it even prohibits contact with the Bible, religious literature, or religious philosophy. The custody order cannot prohibit Bickford from taking her daughter to church. The implications of this order pose a serious threat to religious freedom.”
