In an unprecedented ruling, Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court upheld a hostile lower court order forbidding a Christian mother from taking her own daughter to any church, religious organization, or a church-related event because the girl’s dad is opposed to biblical teaching. The court’s expansive order even forbids this Christian mom from “exposing” Ava to any “religious philosophy or the Bible in general.” Ava, now 13, cannot even associate with her Christian friends from Calvary Chapel.
This ruling, which Liberty Counsel will petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, constitutes a dangerous precedent for all future child custody cases by allowing nonbelievers to block fit parents from raising their children according to their Christian beliefs.
In my 39 years of practicing law, I have never seen anything like this outrageous case and have rarely seen anything like the glut of false claims circulating on social media regarding its details.
Correcting the Record
I’ll lay out the basic facts and correct a few of the canards social media instant experts are posting.
Emily Bickford and Matthew Bradeen were never married and never lived together, and they share joint custody of their daughter, Ava. In 2017, Bickford became a Christian. In 2021, Bickford and Ava began attending Calvary Chapel in Portland, Maine, where Ava gave her life to Jesus. When her father learned Ava's baptism was scheduled, he rushed to court. This resulted in the December 2024 custody order that granted him sole authority over Ava’s religious involvement.
In December 2024, a Maine judge issued a hostile order that forbids Ava participating in any of the following without her father’s approval:
Attending any church or Christian event — even Christmas or Easter.
Associating with anyone connected to Calvary Chapel or any Christian friends at all.
Being exposed to the Bible, religious literature, videos, or any “religious philosophy.”
The judge behind this order mocked Bickford and Ava’s faith by refusing to capitalize the word “God” (always using “god”) in the order. And why? Because Ava’s father — a staunch opponent of Christianity — hired a Marxist former California State University sociology professor to testify that Christian churches that believe in the Bible are “cults” that could be “psychologically harmful” to children.
Meanwhile, Ava loves going to church. She misses her church friends, wants to hear God’s Word, and wants to worship with her mother. But the court order has prevented her from attending any church, religious organization, or even a Christmas or Easter service since her father has denied every request from her mother to take her to church.
This lower court order, just upheld by Maine’s Supreme Court, also asserted that “exposure” to Christian doctrines on heaven, hell, angels and demons, salvation, the Second Coming, and teaching the Bible “verse by verse, chapter by chapter” could be psychologically harmful.
Yet the court acknowledged that “there has been no showing of harm to Ava associated with a belief system that is rooted in the Bible.” And it found Ava’s mother, Emily Bickford, to be a fit parent — all while forbidding her from taking Ava to church.
In the wake of the Maine Supreme Court’s ruling, Facebook “factcheckers” have muddied the water with a series of false claims. An anonymous Facebook user’s “Community Note” claims that “The church was presenting material that was wholly inappropriate for children and the court ruled in favor of the father because the girl was suffering panic attacks and other adverse outcomes because of the church.”
This is totally false. The lower court order said that Bradeen alleged Ava had one panic attack. Ava denies she had a panic attack, and Bradeen never told Bickford of the alleged event until he sprang that on her during his testimony in court.
Even the Maine Supreme Judicial Court embellishes the record by expanding this one alleged incident into “panic attacks.” And Facebook’s “Community Note” repeats this claim, adding that there were also “other adverse outcomes because of the church.” False again and not supported by anything in the record.
Another Facebook “Community Note” alleges that both Bickford and Bradeen “must agree on what church the child goes to.” In fact, the final decision is Bradeen’s. The lower court order states:
As to Ava’s participation in any other church or religious organization, or Ava’s exposure to the teachings of any religious philosophy or of the Bible in general -- … Mr. Bradeen is awarded the right to make final decisions regarding Ava’s participation in other churches and religious organizations in the event there is a dispute between the parties.
Calling Out the Real “Enemy”
The “Community Note,” cited above, claims that the court’s ban on taking Ava to church stemmed from “the sermons at Calvary Chapel explicitly naming the father and telling the child that he is ‘the enemy’ and demonizing him as well.”
Once again, this is false. Instead of multiple “sermons at Calvary Chapel,” the allegation above stems from ONLY one prayer by the pastor. It took place during an evening prayer event in which Bickford had no prior knowledge of what the pastor would say or pray.
During this prayer event, the pastor did not say anything against Matthew Bradeen, nor did he call him the “enemy.” Instead, he prayed for him. His reference to the “enemy” was in regard to Satan, not Bradeen. People who do not understand the Bible have intentionally taken what the pastor said out of context.
Becoming an Outlier
To reach this decision, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court overruled one of its prior decisions and acknowledged that the Bickford v. Bradeen decision runs contrary to not only the court’s prior precedent but is also contrary to the decisions of other state courts. The court tossed aside the First Amendment protections for the free exercise of religion in reaching this decision.
This is blatantly unconstitutional, which this is why Liberty Counsel will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn this terrible decision.
For detailed information about this case, including a lengthy interview with Emily Bickford, visit LC.org/Emily.
For more from Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, click HERE.