Thirteen-year-old banned from attending church or being “exposed” to the Bible 

Liberty Counsel is appealing this case to the U.S. Supreme Court to restore the rights of a Christian mother and her child

Since December 2024, an outrageous court order, just upheld by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, has blocked 13-year-old Ava from attending ANY church or even reading the Bible.

Empowered by the Maine court order, Ava’s father’s text messages, quoted below, show his refusal to let her attend a Christian camp or even a Christmas Eve worship service!

We are appealing this unjust and unprecedented ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. Your urgent prayers and financial support are needed now to mount our appeal and win this case.

Help us FREE AVA by supporting our legal fund today. Our 2026 Challenge Grant will DOUBLE your impact.

The problem started three years ago when Ava told her father, Matthew Bradeen, that she wanted to be baptized. Matthew was already irritated that his daughter wore Christian T-shirts to his house during visitation. 

He was also apparently offended that his young daughter kept leaving Christian literature at his house attempting to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with him.

Matthew ran to court. He paid a former sociology professor to testify that Calvary Chapel Portland followed the “Moses model” because the church teaches that there are absolutes, right and wrong, good and evil.  

Though the professor never met or examined Ava, she testified that Calvary Chapel, a popular evangelical Christian church, has the potential to be “psychologically harmful” to Ava. 

The order issued by the court is the most hostile opinion I have ever read. It reeks of animus toward Christianity and mocks Emily and Ava’s Christian faith. The court refused to capitalize the word “God” throughout the decision and even chastised Ava’s mother for one prayer of the pastor! 

The order banned Emily from taking Ava to Calvary Chapel and from associating with anyone or anything affiliated with Calvary Chapel. The order, unanimously upheld by Maine’s Supreme Court last week, gives Matthew total veto power over any church, religious event, religious literature, and even exposure to the Bible. 

I am asking for your immediate financial help to overturn this outrageous order. Bringing an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is a significant undertaking. But it must be done. And thanks to our 2026 Challenge Grant, YOUR GIFT NOW WILL BE DOUBLED!

Matthew Bradeen has taken this newfound power to the extreme. He has denied every single church Emily has suggested over the past two years. And that includes Christmas. 

In one text exchange, Emily asks Matthew, “As part of celebrating Christmas with Ava I would like to bring her to the Christmas Eve service at church...would that be okay with you?” He replies: “No, it wouldn’t. She can not go to Calvary chapel [sic].” 

And when Emily tells Matthew that Ava “misses her friends from church,” and asks him if he’d “allow her to go to their youth group camp with her friends,” the reply is NO. “Youth church camp set up by Calvary chapel [sic] is not something I am comfortable with,” he answers. 

Since December 2024, Ava had to cut off ALL contact with her friends from Calvary. This is devastating for Ava and Emily.  

The order even allows Matthew to ban Emily from reading or studying the Bible with Ava! And now the Maine Supreme Court has unanimously upheld this outrageous order! 

Ava is 13 and she loves Jesus, despite these attempts to crush her young faith. But she misses her church friends. Emily cannot take Ava to Easter services, Christmas celebrations, or any other religious activities.  

We are now preparing our appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. We are determined, with your help, to restore religious freedom.  

Will you help us defend Emily and Ava at the High Court? Liberty Counsel never charges our clients because few people, especially single moms like Emily and teenage girls like Ava, can afford to fight their cases all the way to the Supreme Court.  

Instead, Emily and our other clients rely on YOU, the faithful Liberty Counsel supporter. Support our legal fund today and a generous Challenge Grant will DOUBLE the impact of your gift.

Mat Staver
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel