Maine Mother Appeals Custody Order That Restricts Child’s Church Attendance

November 25, 2025

A single mother in Maine is fighting a custody ruling that bars her from taking her 12-year-old daughter to Calvary Chapel because a lower court accepted the girl’s father’s claim that the church is a “cult.”

Christianity Daily reports that Emily Bickford is receiving legal support from Liberty Counsel as she challenges the custody order before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

Earlier this month, the state’s high court heard oral arguments on the lower court case, which Liberty Counsel argues is a violation of Bickford’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

Under the lower court’s ruling, which was issued last December, the girl’s father Matthew Bradeen was granted “the right and responsibility to make decisions regarding whether [Minor Child] attends any services, gatherings, or events associated with Calvary Chapel.”

According to Christianity Daily, the district court had required both of the child’s parents to research and discuss Calvary Chapel while evaluating whether it is in the child’s best interests for her to be involved.

In a statement to the Christian Post, Liberty Counsel founder and Chairman Mat Staver wrote: “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.”

Staver added, “The breadth of this court order is breathtaking because it even prohibits contact with the Bible, religious literature, or religious philosophy.”

Calvary Chapel is an association of hundreds of autonomous charismatic Evangelical churches worldwide which has its roots in the “Jesus movement” of the late 1960s and early 70s.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court will issue a decision once it reviews the full record of arguments and written briefs.

Photo: top, Credit: Unsplash/Jon Flobrant