"No Church, No Bible, No Christian Friends” Court Order endangers Christian parents nationwide

Matthew Bradeen wants nothing to do with God. So, he found a judge to ban Emily Bickford, the mother of his child and an unquestionably fit parent, from taking their 12-year-old daughter, Ava, to church, reading the Bible, and even allowing the girl to have Christian friends from the Calvary Chapel church she attended.

I wish I were exaggerating, but sadly, I am not.

STOP the “No Church, No Bible, No Christian Friends” Court Order!

Emily has primary custody of Ava (who will be 13 in January). Emily is a fit parent. Neither Matthew nor Judge Jennifer Nofsinger allege otherwise. But an outrageous court custody order decries the fact that Calvary Chapel believes in teaching the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter. And, the church believes in heaven, hell, angels, demons, salvation through Jesus, and the Second Coming. The judge admits there is no evidence that “exposure to the teaching of the Bible” has caused any harm, but that did not stop her from banning Emily from taking her daughter to church.

Unable to find any legitimate reason (like abuse or neglect) to restrict Emily’s parental rights, the judge used anti-Christian bias to rule that Emily Bickford’s Christian beliefs “eclipsed her ability to make decisions that are in Ava's best interests.”

Maine Family Court Judge Jennifer Nofsinger's outrageous ruling is an affront to religious freedom and a threat to every Christian parent.

Liberty Counsel has taken this case to the Maine Supreme Court, and we are prepared to take it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary to prevent any judge from ever again issuing such an outrageously unlawful court order. Help us fund this crucially important case for parental religious freedom rights and a Year-End Challenge Grant will DOUBLE the impact of your gift. Please give generously.

Matthew Bradeen and Emily Bickford’s relationship ended before their daughter, Ava, was born. For 12 years, Emily has had primary custody and Matthew had visitation, that is until Emily and Ava became Christians.

Emily and Ava began attending Calvary Chapel in May 2021. Emily and Ava attended twice on Sundays and at least once throughout the week. Over the years, Ava has formed close relationships with her church friends.

Never once in all those years has there been any question as to Emily’s fitness as a parent. No allegations of neglect or abuse. But as an unbeliever, Matthew did not like Ava’s growing faith in the Lord.

The issue came to a head when Ava turned 11 and told her father that she wanted to be baptized. Infuriated that his daughter had embraced the God that Matthew refused to acknowledge, he ran to the family court to stop her from being baptized!

Before the court could act, Ava got her wish and was baptized! But that simple act of faith apparently infuriated Matthew.

Mr. Bradeen’s biggest complaint seems to be his annoyance that his then-11-year-old daughter was trying to share her faith with him.

Throughout his filings and arguments, Matthew groused that his daughter wore Christian T-shirts to his home, would try to talk to him about salvation, and often left Bible verses and Christian literature behind when visitation ended.

STOP the “No Church, No Bible, No Christian Friends” Court Order!

So, he flew a former Marxist California State University sociology professor all the way to Maine to testify that Christian churches are cults that follow the “Moses Model” (as though Moses was bad). And despite having no training or experience in psychology, and having never personally examined Ava, this Marxist testified that Christianity posed potential “psychological harm” to Ava. Sadly, the court went along with this farse.

In the judge's ruling, she did not find any fault with Emily Bickford’s parenting of young Ava other than the fact that Emily is a dedicated Christian who believes in the Bible. The judge even chastised Emily for allowing her church and pastor to pray over Emily and Ava!

Throughout her order, the judge refused to capitalize the word “God.” In all of my nearly 38 years of legal work, I have never seen a judge do such a thing. In fact, The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, which governs writing styles for legal pleadings in the United States, requires the word “God” be capitalized. Yet, throughout her order, the judge refused to capitalize the word, thereby demeaning and mocking Emily and Ava’s faith as well as purposefully ignoring proper legal writing standards.

Defend the right to take your child to church!

Here’s the issue: American judges and government officials are forbidden by the Constitution and long-standing U.S. law from making any determination FOR or AGAINST any person's faith. No judge or government official can order a person to go to a specific church, nor can they prevent a person from attending a specific church or holding religious beliefs. Judges simply DO NOT have the right to dictate whether a parent can teach their children about God. Yet, that is exactly what Judge Nofsinger’s ruling did —and that’s unlawful.

The court’s ruling flies in the face of the First Amendment rights to free speech and religious liberty, as well as the Fourteenth Amendment, which prevents states from robbing parents of their rights.

If this “No church, No Bible, No Christian friends” ruling stands, then unbelievers in every state can rob parents of their right to raise their children in their own faith.

We need your help to continue defending Emily — and Christian parents like her from around the country. We never charge our clients, because few people, especially single moms like Emily Bickford, could afford to fight their cases all the way to the Supreme Court. Instead, Emily and our other clients rely on YOU, the faithful Liberty Counsel supporter. Support our legal fund today and a generous Year-End Challenge Grant will DOUBLE the impact of your gift. Finally, please be in prayer for Emily and Ava.

Mat Staver
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel