Ava Banned from Church on Christmas — Help Us Fight Back!

Imagine being told you cannot take your own child to church on Christmas. That’s exactly what happened to Emily Bickford. A Maine court has issued an outrageous order preventing Emily from taking her daughter, Ava, to any church service at any church anywhere — even on Christmas Day!

Two years ago, Ava, then 11, wanted to be baptized. She loved attending Calvary Chapel with her mom. But when her father, a non-believer who shares custody, found out, he ran to the courts to stop her. Now, Ava is just weeks away from turning 13. She still desperately wants to go to church and spend time with the friends she made over the past nearly four years.

But Ava is still banned from church, Bible study, and even seeing her Christian friends. This case is really tugging at my heart to help Emily and Ava.

This is the most hostile court order against Christianity we have ever seen.

Help us right this wrong by supporting our legal fund today.

Every donation made by MIDNIGHT, December 31, will be DOUBLED in impact by a special Year-End Challenge Grant.

Emily is a loving, fit parent in every way — and she is a Christian who loves Jesus. The court shockingly declared that exposure to Calvary Chapel (or even the Bible) could be “psychologically harmful.” This blasphemous order even mocks God by referring to Him in lower case (“god”) and bans Ava from any “religious philosophy or the Bible in general.” It’s tyranny, plain and simple.

Despite the fact that the court admitted there was no evidence Ava was harmed by exposure to the Bible, out of animus to Christianity, the court gave Ava’s father, Matthew Bradeen (who despises Christianity), exclusive control over Ava's religious exposure.

Matthew Bradeen has vetoed every church his ex-girlfriend, Emily, suggested — Calvary Chapel, Lighthouse Church, Standish Baptist, and scores of other Christian houses of worship. Matthew Bradeen has gleefully vetoed every single one — as recently as this past weekend!

A light in the darkness. . .

A study completed in July 2015 found that Gen Z kids, like Ava, attend church more regularly than ANY other living generation. They go more often than Millennials, Gen X, the Baby Boomers, and even our nation’s elderly.

“This generation is particularly one that has experienced loneliness, and just a real sense of isolation and fragmentation,” Fr. Jonah Teller of St. Joseph’s Church in New York told reporters. “And so church offers you a real community especially if the heart of that friendship is Jesus Christ but then a real unity with friends surrounding that.”

“We are made to know people and to love people and to be known and to be loved and that’s just powerfully experienced in a church,” he added.

We are fighting for Ava to be able to once again enjoy the same loving church community that has drawn so many of her peers back to church.

Last month, I presented oral arguments in Bickford v. Bradeen before the Maine Supreme Court. If we lose, we will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. But we cannot do this without your help.

Liberty Counsel never charges clients like Emily because few single moms could afford to fight all the way to the Supreme Court. Instead, we rely on faithful supporters like you.

Right now, your gift will be DOUBLED by a special Year-End Challenge Grant!

Every dollar you give will help us defend Emily and Ava — and protect the rights of Christian parents all across America.

Don’t let judges ban children from attending church. Stand with us to overturn this outrageous order. Please, give generously today.