Maine judge bans 12-year-old from church, Bible, and even from her Christian friends

Liberty Counsel has appealed to the Maine Supreme Court and will pursue this case to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

Imagine being told you cannot take your own child to church. 

Imagine being forbidden to read the Bible with your daughter, pray with her, attend Easter or Christmas services, or even allow her to hang out with her friends from church.

That’s exactly what happened to Emily Bickford and her 12-year-old daughter, Ava, thanks to the most egregious and offensive child custody order I have ever seen.

If this ruling stands, it will set a dangerous precedent for all future child custody cases, allowing non-believers to block fit parents from raising their children according to their Christian beliefs.

Help us Defend Emily & Ava by supporting our legal fund today. Every donation will be DOUBLED in impact by a special Year-End Challenge Grant.

Last December, a Maine judge issued one of the most hostile custody orders we’ve ever seen. It forbids Ava from: 

• Attending any church or Christian event — even Christmas or Easter. 
• Associating with her church friends, anyone connected to Calvary Chapel, or any Christian friends at all. 
• Reading the Bible or being exposed to any “religious philosophy.” 
• Discussing her faith with her own mother. 

The judge even mocked Emily and Ava’s faith by refusing to capitalize the word “God” in the order. And why? Because Ava’s father — a staunch opponent of Christianity — hired a former Marxist California State University sociology professor to testify to the court that evangelical Christian churches that believe in the Bible are “cults” that are “psychologically harmful” to children. 

What’s so bad about Calvary Chapel in Portland, Maine? The pastor teaches the Bible “verse by verse, chapter by chapter.” The church believes in heaven, hell, angels, demons, salvation, the Second Coming, and that God created us in His image — male and female. 

The judge ruled that Ava’s atheist father has the SOLE authority to prevent Ava from attending ANY church, religious activity, or even being with Christian friends.

Help Emily & Ava WIN!

This Is Unconstitutional Religious Discrimination

Emily is a fit parent in every way. She is a Christian who attends a church that teaches the Bible “verse by verse, chapter by chapter.” The Marxist former professor and the judge in her ruling took issue with the fact that the Bible rejects LGBTQ ideology and instead teaches God’s design for human sexuality and marriage. The judge even chastised Emily for allowing her pastor to pray over her and Ava! 

We Fought Back — And Now We Need You

Last Thursday, I stood before the Maine Supreme Court to argue that this outrageous order must be overturned. Some of the justices on the panel acknowledged the order as being openly hostile to Christianity. But we will have no clear answers until the Maine Supreme Court rules on this case. 

If the Maine Supreme Court upholds this shocking “No Church, No Bible custody order,” we will have no choice but to fight for Emily and Ava’s rights all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Cases like this are costly — and few families can fight all the way to a state or U.S. Supreme Court. That’s why we need YOUR support today.

Your Gift today will be DOUBLED in impact.

A special Year-End Challenge Grant will DOUBLE the impact of your gift to defend religious freedom and parental rights.

Please give generously today — and help us ensure that no court can ever again ban a parent from taking their own child to church.

Please pray for Emily and Ava — and for a ruling that restores their right to worship together.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matt. 18:6).

Thank you for standing with us in this critical fight.