JAWDROPPING: State Supreme Court to rule whether Mom can take daughter to church

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From the Christian Post: A single mother is challenging a custody order that prohibits her from taking her 12-year-old daughter to a Calvary Chapel church in Maine after a lower court accepted the claim that the denomination is a “cult,” granting the girl’s father the power to determine which religious activities she’s allowed to attend.

In combating the December 2024 custody order, the mother, Emily Bickford, is receiving legal assistance from the Liberty Counsel, a Christian legal group that has helped bring the mother’s case before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

“Calvary Chapel is not a cult. This custody order banning Emily Bickford from taking her child to a Christian church because of its biblical teachings violates the First Amendment,” Liberty Counsel founder and Chairman Mat Staver said in a statement shared with The Christian Post.

“The breadth of this court order is breathtaking because it even prohibits contact with the Bible, religious literature, or religious philosophy,” Staver continued. “The custody order cannot prohibit Bickford from taking her daughter to church. The implications of this order pose a serious threat to religious freedom.”

According to the report, the mother, Emily Bickford, started attending the Calvary Chapel Church in Portland in May 2021.

However, the father of Bickford’s daughter, Matthew Bradeen, researched the church online and voiced objection about the church’s teachings, such as the idea that “people can only be saved by meeting God on God’s terms.” He is also opposed to his daughter going to the church because it teaches the Bible “verse by verse, chapter by chapter,” including what it says about eternal damnation, fallen angels, demons and warfare.

Liberty Counsel has noted that Bickford and Bradeen were never married. Bickford has maintained primary custody of Ava, while Bradeen had visitation rights.

The report explains that the state supreme court heard oral arguments for the case on Nov. 13, and is expected to make a decision after it reviews the arguments and briefs in the case.

Earlier this month, Liberty Counsel posted the following statement ad photo:

Can a mom be prohibited from taking her daughter to church? Absolutely not. But a mother in Maine is currently facing this reality, bound by a custody order preventing her from taking her preteen daughter to church or religious organizations.

This afternoon, Mat Staver argued at the Maine Supreme Court on behalf of Emily Bickford, a Christian mom who is currently prohibited from raising her daughter, Ava, in accordance with her religious beliefs. The reason? Ava’s father considers Calvary Chapel’s biblical teachings as “psychologically detrimental” to his daughter because the church teaches the Bible, “verse by verse,” including the Bible’s descriptions of hell, demons, and spiritual warfare.

Emily and Ava attended Calvary Chapel Portland from May 2021 to December 2024, when the order was issued. Since then, Ava’s dad, Matthew Bradeen has denied Emily’s ability to take her daughter to any church whatsoever.

The implications of this unconstitutional custody order pose a serious threat to religious freedom. The First Amendment does not allow for this blatant and overt hostility towards religious beliefs, and this unlawful order cannot stand.

Here, Mat stands outside the court house with Emily Bickford, David Hirchon (our local counsel in Maine), and Pastor Travis Carey (Calvary Chapel Greater Portland).

READ MORE from the Christian Post.

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