Court order banned Mom from taking daughter to church, sharing the Bible

By Mark Ellis —

In a case that strikes at the heart of parental rights and religious freedom, a Christian mom in Maine is appealing a shocking lower court ruling that denies her the right to take her 12-year-old daughter to church or expose her to biblical teachings during her custodial time.

Emily Bickford, a single mom who has raised her daughter Ava (name changed for privacy) with a strong faith in Jesus Christ, found herself in the fight of her life after a December 2024 custody modification order handed exclusive control over all religious decisions to the girl’s father, Matthew Bradeen.

The Portland District Court judge ruled that the teachings at Calvary Chapel Westbrook—where Bickford and her daughter had worshiped for over three years—posed potential “psychological harm” to the child, effectively banning Ava from attending services, reading church materials, or even associating with fellow believers there.

“This order is breathtaking in its hostility toward Christianity,” said Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, the Christian legal organization representing Bickford on appeal. Staver told reporters that in his decades of defending religious liberty, he has “never seen an order as hostile as this one,” noting that the judge repeatedly spelled “God” with a lowercase “g” throughout the ruling—a subtle but telling sign of bias.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court heard oral arguments in Bickford v. Bradeen on November 13, 2025, where justices appeared skeptical of the lower court’s drastic measures. Several justices questioned whether the order amounted to a “nuclear option” that unconstitutionally infringed on a fit parent’s fundamental right to direct her child’s religious upbringing.

Bickford, who has primary custody, began attending Calvary Chapel in 2021 after giving her life to Christ. Her daughter soon followed, expressing excitement about baptism and growing in faith alongside her mom and church friends. But when Ava shared her enthusiasm with her father—who does not share their beliefs—he blew up.

Bradeen objected to the church’s verse-by-verse Bible teaching on topics like sin, salvation, and end times, claiming it caused the girl anxiety.

Liberty Counsel contends that the father found “an ACLU judge” and “flew in a Marxist former sociology professor from California” to testify that Calvary Chapel or any Bible-believing churches, for that matter, are “cults” that are “psychologically detrimental.”

The Portland District Court sided with Ava’s father and found that Bickford is “a fit parent except for the fact that she is a Christian,” explained Liberty Counsel in a press statement.

The lower court granted the father veto power not only over Calvary Chapel but, in broader language, over exposure to “the teachings of any religious philosophy or of the Bible in general.”

“This affects not only our family, but the families of all Christian children,” Bickford told News Center Maine after the Supreme Court hearing. “She misses her friends at church terribly. My heart breaks for her spiritual growth being stifled like this.”

Liberty Counsel argues the ruling violates longstanding U.S. Supreme Court precedents affirming that fit parents have a constitutional right to instill their faith in their children, even when co-parents disagree. “The First Amendment protects a parent’s right to take their child to church,” Staver emphasized in court filings. “Government cannot label biblical truth as ‘harmful’ just because one parent dislikes it.”

Attorneys for Bradeen, including Michelle King, countered that the order protects the child’s best interests based on evidence of emotional distress, and that courts may intervene when religious exposure risks harm.

As the Maine high court deliberates—with no timeline announced for a decision—believers are praying for a reversal. If upheld, critics warn the precedent could empower secular courts to censor Christian parenting nationwide.