To add insult to injury, the family court judge spent several pages of her decision criticizing Emily’s church for having the audacity to pray over the mother and her child. 

The church in question is our longtime client, Calvary Chapel of Bangor, which we represented when anti-church Maine Governor Janet Mills threatened to arrest Calvary Chapel members for attending church services. 

Something is rotten in Maine, and we are fighting to fix it. 

Help us defend Emily and her daughter’s RIGHT to attend the church of their choice, and a generous Challenge Grant will DOUBLE your impact.

Matt Bradeen never bothered to marry Emily, the woman he impregnated 12 years ago. In fact, their relationship ended even before the child, Ava, was born.  

Emily found God and became an active member of Calvary Chapel of Bangor, in Maine, led by my longtime friend Pastor Ken Graves. Ken is doing amazing work in Maine, forming a God-honoring church that also offers one of the most successful life rehabilitation centers in the country as part of the church’s ministry. 

Ken unabashedly preaches the Word of God, and as evidenced by the healed young men and women coming out of the ministry, this church is literally saving lives. 

Emily and her daughter found their spiritual home in Calvary Chapel, and their faith began to grow. 

But as Matt’s former girlfriend and child’s faith grew, he became angry. 

In an official complaint to the court, Matt said that Calvary Chapel “teaches the [B]ible chapter by chapter, verse by verse,” and that his daughter carried “religious paraphernalia” (Bible verses) as a result of her supposed indoctrination.  

Matt even objected to young Ava’s desire to be baptized.

Matt hated the fact that his ex-girlfriend and daughter had found Christ so much that he hired a former California State University sociology professor to testify that Calvary Chapel is a “cult.” 

In one of the most shocking opinions I have ever read, the judge in this case AGREED and ordered Emily to NEVER again take her daughter to Calvary Chapel. 

Adding insult to injury, the judge wrongfully decreed that Matt, and ONLY Matt, could make a decision on which church Emily’s daughter could attend, if any at all. Matt has steadfastly refused to approve ANY church Emily has suggested as an alternative. 

Even though hundreds of years of standing Maine and U.S. legal precedents, the Maine Constitution, and the state’s judicial oath capitalize the world “God,” the judge in this case revealed her anti-Christian bias by refusing to capitalize the word throughout her entire opinion. Instead, the judge wrote “god,” minimizing the Creator of the Universe, as well as Emily and her daughter’s profound faith. 

The judge spent nearly half of her 11-page opinion excoriating Calvary Chapel’s ministers and members for having the audacity to pray over Emily and Ava. 

The U.S. Constitution, hundreds of years of legal precedents, and even the Maine Supreme Court ALL agree that the government MAY NOT prevent a parent from raising a child in his or her own preferred faith. 

But this judge refuses to follow the law, instead agreeing with a left coast, former Marxist sociology professor that Calvary Chapel is a cult from which Emily’s child must be protected. 

Liberty Counsel is now on the case, and we will fight for Emily and Ava’s religious rights to be restored, and for the two to be reunited with the Calvary Chapel congregation they have come to know and love. 

This is a very dangerous opinion, one of the worst I have ever read. We cannot allow it to stand. 

Emily and Ava would not have this opportunity to fight for their religious freedom rights if it weren’t for faithful Liberty Counsel supporters like YOU. 

Our clients NEVER pay for our legal services because few people could afford to fight a God-hating government gone mad. Instead, these good people rely on the generosity of supporters like you. 

A special Challenge Grant has been extended to fill our legal fund. Every donation made — including recurring monthly donations — will be DOUBLED in impact. Please, help Emily, Ava, and other Americans being persecuted and punished over their faith with your gift today.

Please be in prayer for Emily and her daughter. Be in prayer, too, for the young girl’s father and the judge, that they might accept the love and light of our Lord Jesus Christ in their own lives. 

Mat Staver
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel

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