ME Supreme Court to Hear Oral Arguments

in Case of “No Church” Child Custody Order

Liberty Counsel will argue before the Maine Supreme Court next month. 

Mark* never bothered to marry the woman who bore his child. Now, he’s trying to prevent his ex-girlfriend — a born-again Christian who has primary custody of their daughter — from taking her own child to church. Sadly, a judge issued one of the most shocking orders I have ever read.

Now Liberty Counsel is headed to the Maine Supreme Court to overturn this outrageous child custody order and the religious freedom of the mother and her daughter.

Judges MUST NOT be allowed to prevent parents from taking their own children to church! Support our legal fund today, and a special Challenge Grant will DOUBLE the impact of your donation.

Liberty Counsel rarely gets involved in child custody cases unless there is a significant constitutional question. This case is so outrageous that we were compelled to take the lead on appeal.

Thirteen years ago, Mark fathered a child out of wedlock. The relationship with the child’s mother, Elizabeth*, ended before their daughter, Andrea*, was born. For 13 years, Elizabeth has had primary custody.

All was going as well as can be expected, until Elizabeth and her daughter joined a local church. When Marcus learned his then-12-year-old daughter made the decision to be baptized, he ran to the court.

Marcus testified that he was upset to learn his daughter was attending a church that taught the Bible “chapter by chapter” and “verse by verse.”

So, Marcus hired a Marxist and former California professor of sociology to testify that Calvary Chapel, an evangelical church with thousands of congregations throughout the United States, is a “cult.”

The judge took the unfounded testimony as a fact, noting that the Calvary Chapel pastor presented as “charismatic,” “he spoke fast, passionately, at length, and authoritatively,” and that he “had answers for all the questions posed to him and answered those questions in a manner that suggested that there could be no other truth than the message he was delivering.” According to the district court, these articulated attributes of Calvary Chapel’s pastor contributed to its finding that Calvary Chapel was a cult.

By this logic, Billy Graham, Charles Spurgeon, C.S. Lewis, the pope, or any other pastor or Christian apologetics expert confident in the Word of God would be considered a “cult leader.”

Overturn the “No Church” Child Custody Order!

The judge also took issue with the fact that the church holds strong convictions based upon the Bible and teaches directly from Scripture — “chapter by chapter, verse by verse,” exactly as Marcus had complained. In addition, the judge condemned Calvary Chapel’s pastor for praying for the mother and the child. According to the judge, traditional Christian religious practices inflict “psychological harm” on a minor!

The judge purposefully refused to capitalize the word “God.” I have never seen such a thing in all my years practicing law! 

According to the Chicago Manual of Style (which prescribes proper professional grammar), “a capital G is normally reserved for literal references to the supreme being (or Supreme Being, when referring to a specific God) worshipped according to any of a number of monotheistic religions.” A lowercase “g” typically denotes multiple purported divinities from mythology. Thus, the continuous reference to Bickford’s God as “god” throughout the order betrays the judge’s obvious disdain and hostility for Bickford’s monotheistic religious beliefs. 

The District Court judge FORBID Bickford from taking her own daughter to not just Calvary Chapel but to ANY church unless the ex-boyfriend agrees. So far, despite being given dozens of options, Marcus refuses to allow Elizabeth to take her daughter to ANY church.

Courts DO NOT have the authority to prohibit an unquestionably fit parent from taking her minor child to church or Christian worship. The judge’s order notes that Elizabeth unquestionably is a fit parent — except for the fact that she attends a Bible-believing church. The authors of America's founding charter would be aghast to think this mother could be deprived of her right to attend worship services with her daughter, yet that is precisely what happened in this case. 

The First Amendment quite simply means the following: “Neither a state nor the Federal Government can . . . force nor influence a person to go to or to remain away from church against his will or force him to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion. No person can be punished for entertaining or professing religious beliefs or disbeliefs, for church attendance or non-attendance” (Everson v. Board of Education of Ewing Township).

WE MUST WIN THIS CASE. If we do not, then judges can prevent other Christians from taking their children to church. 

We need your financial support to win. Liberty Counsel never charges our clients as few could afford to fight for their religous freedom rights. Our Challenge Grant will DOUBLE the impact of every donation.

Please be in prayer for Elizabeth and her daughter. Be in prayer, too, for the girl’s father that he might accept the love of Jesus Christ. 

Mat Staver
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel