Maine Supreme Judicial Court Upholds Father’s Authority to Limit Daughter’s Calvary Chapel Attendance

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has unanimously upheld a lower court’s custody order in *Emily A. Bickford v. Matthew A. Bradeen*, a dispute between divorced parents who disagree about their daughter’s religious upbringing. According to one report, the order gives Bradeen authority over whether the child may take part in the services, gatherings or events of Calvary Chapel Greater Portland, which the child had been attending with her mother. Another report describes the church as an evangelical congregation in Westbrook. The parents’ dispute was heard in 2024, and the high court’s decision was issued on September 1.

Bradeen objected to the child attending the church with her mother. He told the court that Calvary Chapel Greater Portland created a “dangerous and harmful environment” for his daughter, according to one report. He said she developed anxiety after a panic attack that followed the church’s teachings on the rapture. The lower court ruled in Bradeen’s favor, stating that some of the church’s language was “psychologically damaging the child” because of how it portrayed the father, as that report describes the ruling.

Testimony in the lower court drew on outside expertise. One report says witnesses compared Calvary Chapel to a “cult,” and that California sociology professor Janja Lalich testified that the church is a “closed social system.” The same report says the judge used the word “cult” only when summarizing Lalich’s testimony.

Writing for the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, Chief Justice Valeria Stanfill said that parents share a constitutional right to direct their children’s upbringing. The court said that allocating decision-making authority to one parent does not necessarily violate either parent’s constitutional rights, and that courts must allocate parental responsibilities according to the child’s best interests. Protecting a child’s welfare in this way reflects care for the vulnerable (Psalm 82:3).

Bickford had argued that the lower court showed hostility toward Christianity. The Maine Supreme Court rejected that argument, according to the report describing the ruling. The decision maintained the father’s right to decide whether his daughter could keep attending the church or interacting with its members beyond her mother’s involvement, as one report puts it.

Bickford’s attorneys contend that the lower court judged the substance of the church’s beliefs. They also say the court relied on testimony describing the church’s practices as potentially harmful to children.