The Maine Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments concerning the case of Emily Bickford, who was blocked from taking her 12-year-old daughter to church.
Bickford received a custody order from a lower court forbidding her from taking the girl to services for Calvary Chapel, an evangelical Protestant fellowship of churches centered on expository Bible preaching.
The order also “allows prohibiting the daughter from reading the Bible,” according to a Nov. 12 release from Liberty Counsel, a legal advocacy group assisting Bickford in court.
The custody order gave Matthew Bradeen, the girl’s biological father, the “sole right to decide about whether his daughter” attends any Calvary Chapel services, whether she can review video messages or literature from the denomination, or even whether she can communicate with any members, according to Liberty Counsel.
The order indeed encompasses “any other church or religious organization, or exposure to the teachings of any religious philosophy or of the Bible in general.”
Because of an unconstitutional custody order, Emily Bickford is prohibited from bringing her preteen daughter to Calvary Chapel, a church they had attended since May 2021. Matthew Bradeen (the dad and non-custodial parent) now has total authority over their preteen’s religious… pic.twitter.com/uXTUOSV1lB
— Liberty Counsel (@libertycounsel) November 19, 2025
Bradeen hired Dr. Janja Lalich, a California sociology professor and “expert on cults,” to convince Maine District Judge Jennifer Nofsinger that Calvary Chapel is a cult because of its biblical teachings on hell, demons, and spiritual warfare.
“Dr. Lalich told the judge that cults usually have a charismatic, authoritarian leader who teaches about a ‘transcendent belief system’ that offers answers, and ‘promises some sort of salvation,’” Liberty Counsel said.
“She further testified that she had ‘studied’ Calvary Chapel Church and found that the church’s pastor was a ‘charismatic’ speaker, spoke ‘authoritatively’ in his messages, and that he asserted his messages were objective truth.”
Lalich therefore concluded that the girl could experience psychological harm by attending the church.
This was despite the fact that all true Christian churches affirm that the gospel is the only means to receive salvation and that the Bible is the source of truth.
Liberty Counsel noted that Nofsinger repeatedly wrote “god” rather than “God” in her order, and that Bradeen did the same in his complaint.
URGENT PRAYER REQUEST: Mat Staver is arguing before the Maine Supreme Court this afternoon on behalf of Emily Bickford, who is barred by a court order from taking her 12-year-old daughter to church because the girl’s dad deems the church’s biblical teachings as “psychologically…
— Liberty Counsel (@libertycounsel) November 13, 2025
The legal nonprofit is therefore seeking “a reversal of this unlawful custody order and restoration of the mother’s First Amendment right to pass on her religious beliefs to her child.”
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver affirmed that the 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,” Staver added.
“The custody order cannot prohibit Bickford from taking her daughter to church. The implications of this order pose a serious threat to religious freedom.”
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