Maine's Highest Court Affirms Father's Final Authority Over Daughter's Church Attendance

Maine's Supreme Judicial Court has upheld a lower court's decision, granting a father the final authority over whether his daughter attends her mother's evangelical church. This ruling comes amidst a protracted parental dispute concerning the child's religious upbringing.

The state's highest court affirmed the Portland District Court judge's determination, which arose from a 2024 disagreement between Matthew Bradeen and Emily Bickford regarding their then-11-year-old daughter's church involvement.

The Core Dispute and Lower Court Findings

Emily Bickford had been regularly taking her daughter to Calvary Chapel Greater Portland, an evangelical congregation located in Westbrook, several times each week.

Matthew Bradeen contended that the church environment was “dangerous and harmful,” asserting it had induced anxiety in his daughter. He specifically noted that she experienced a panic attack after being exposed to the church's teachings on the Rapture, a belief that Christians will be suddenly transported to heaven during the end times, leaving nonbelievers to face an apocalypse.

The initial district court sided with Bradeen, concluding that the messages the child received at the church were “psychologically damaging,” particularly due to how they characterized her father. This finding was subsequently upheld by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

The lower court's order grants Bradeen the exclusive right to decide on his daughter's attendance at Calvary Chapel services, her participation in church activities, and her interactions with church members, excluding her mother. The court also stipulated that both parents must continue to share parental rights and responsibilities concerning their daughter’s exposure to other religious groups. Should disagreements arise regarding the child's involvement with other faiths, the father retains the final decision-making power. The court clarified that this allocation of final authority was a consequence of the parents' inability to jointly make decisions about their child's religious upbringing, rather than a disapproval of the mother's religious beliefs.

Legal Challenge and First Amendment Arguments

Mathew Staver, legal counsel for Emily Bickford, has indicated an intention to appeal this case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Bickford and her legal team have a 90-day window to file their appeal with the nation's highest court.

Staver's law firm, Liberty Counsel, describes itself as a Christian ministry dedicated to religious freedom. The firm has a history of involvement in other religious freedom cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including a 2022 instance where the court ruled in favor of a private religious group that Boston officials had prohibited from displaying a Christian flag.

In their arguments to Maine's high court regarding the Bradeen-Bickford dispute, Liberty Counsel contended that the 2024 order infringed upon the mother's First Amendment rights. They asserted that the order demonstrated an “open hostility” toward religious beliefs and prevented her from influencing the “religious upbringing of her child as she sees fit.”

“What Maine has done in this decision is put the Supreme Court of Maine at odds with the courts of a number of other states,” Staver stated. “I think it will be a case that will be very significant and catch the attention of the Supreme Court because of how far-reaching it is with regards to the First Amendment exercise clause.”

Conversely, Michelle King, who represents Matthew Bradeen, described Tuesday's decision as “well thought-out and reasoned,” adding that Bradeen was pleased with the outcome.

“Anytime you’re in court, it’s stressful,” King remarked. “But this case has definitely garnered a lot of media attention, and I think that’s always difficult for parents.”

Parental Conflict and Church Conduct

A significant aspect of the case centered on an incident during a church service where Pastor Travis Carey specifically named Bradeen.

While legal proceedings for the initial dispute were ongoing, Bickford brought her daughter to a service at Calvary Chapel Greater Portland. During this service, Pastor Carey led a six-and-a-half-minute prayer that focused on the case, reportedly mentioning the parents and child by name almost 30 times. During the prayer, Carey stated that Bradeen was “in need of salvation” and characterized the legal proceedings as “an attack on God’s Word.”

The Maine Supreme Court noted that Bickford made no attempt to remove her child from the service and later described it as “appropriate.”

The court's decision highlighted that Bickford “is unwilling to recognize, much less mitigate, the risk that these messages alienate the child from Bradeen or otherwise cause her harm.”

In the 2024 lower court order, Maine District Court Judge Jennifer Nofsinger wrote that the harm inflicted upon the daughter did not originate from “a belief system that is rooted in the Bible.” Instead, it stemmed from the mother’s “inability to co-parent” regarding religion and her decision to cede control over her daughter’s best interests to the church, whose language had disparaged the father.

“The court found that the child was harmed by Bickford’s decisions to expose the child to messages that characterized Bradeen as an ‘enemy’ who seeks to ‘persecute’ the child and her faith, and by Bickford’s unwillingness to prevent the child from receiving those messages or to take any other steps to reduce the risk of alienating her from Bradeen,” the Maine Supreme Court articulated in its Tuesday decision, affirming the lower court’s order.

The final finding underscored that “it is harmful for a child to hear negative and frightening messages about one parent from the other parent or the other parent’s authority figures.” The court reiterated that its order was based on the parents’ demonstrated inability to co-parent on religious matters, not on the substance of Bickford’s religious beliefs, thus deeming it necessary for one parent to be granted the authority for final decisions over the other.