When Court Says Your Child Can't Go To Church: The Ava Bickford Case

Few stories in recent years have so starkly revealed the rising hostility toward biblical Christianity in American institutions. What is happening to 12-year-old Ava Bickford in Maine is not simply a custody dispute--it is a direct challenge to parental rights, religious liberty, and the right of Christian families to raise their children in the faith. And it is unfolding in a place many believers would never expect: a courtroom.

To understand the weight of this case, we must first understand the setting. Calvary Chapel--the church at the center of the controversy--is not an extremist fringe group. It is a well-known, Bible-teaching movement birthed out of the Jesus Movement of the 1960s, founded by Pastor Chuck Smith, and committed to verse-by-verse teaching of Scripture, evangelism, and simple worship. 

Millions of Christians have been blessed by Calvary Chapel fellowships across the nation. It is exactly the kind of church many believing parents long for: grounded, Christ-centered, and firmly committed to the authority of God's Word.

And yet, in this case, a Maine judge labeled it dangerous.

In December 2024, a Maine district court issued one of the most extreme anti-Christian custody orders ever documented. Emily Bickford, Ava's mother, was barred from:

Taking her daughter to any church unless the father approved

Allowing her daughter to attend Christmas, Easter, weddings, funerals, or church events

Allowing Ava to associate with her church friends

Allowing Ava to attend a Christian youth group

Reading the Bible with her

Letting her read any religious literature

Exposing her to "religious philosophy" of any kind

The order even forbids Ava from having contact with any religious organization--including ministries like the Salvation Army, crisis pregnancy centers, shelters, or food banks.

And the reason? According to the judge, Emily is "a fit parent except for the fact that she is a Christian."

This level of hostility is shocking, even for those of us who regularly cover increasing legal pressure on believers. The judge--reportedly a former ACLU president--refused to capitalize the word "God" in official documents and chastised Emily for allowing the pastor to pray for Ava. Then, the father brought in a former California sociology professor--described as Marxist in worldview--to testify that Calvary Chapel, and any Bible-believing church, is a "cult" harmful to children.

This expert testimony, the judge claimed, justified ripping a Christian child away from her church, her friends, her youth group, and even her Bible.

According to Liberty Counsel, the group defending Emily, the court's justification for restricting all religious practice was shockingly thin. The only "concerns" documented were:

A past panic attack

A moment of anxiety

Notes left around the house

A workbook comment that a demon drawing was scary

As Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver told the court: "That cannot amount to immediate and substantial harm."

No abuse.

No neglect.

No threat to the child's wellbeing.

Only the judge's claim that Christianity itself could be harmful.

And so Ava--who wanted to be baptized, who wanted to attend Sunday school, and who asked to be in church--was silenced.

For nearly a year, Ava has been unable to attend church or see her church friends. Emily says her daughter often asks to return. She misses her youth group. She longs for worship. The pain has been "devastatingly heart-wrenching" for both mother and daughter.

If the lower court's ruling stands, Ava's spiritual life could be severed at its roots during some of the most formative years of her life.

Jesus' words ring loudly here:

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble..." (Matt. 18:6).

This case is not just about one family in Maine. It is a preview of the legal arguments already taking shape nationwide:

That biblical Christianity is dangerous

That Bible-believing churches are "cults"

That courts may decide whether children are allowed to practice their faith

That parental rights end where secular discomfort begins

If the state can tell a believing mother she cannot pray with her daughter, read her Scripture, or take her to church, then the First Amendment has become meaningless.

The question now before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court is monumental:

Does the state have the power to erase a child's faith because one parent objects?

Emily Bickford believes the answer should be obvious. "It affects not only our family," she said, "but the families of all Christian children."

A ruling is expected in the coming weeks.

For the sake of religious liberty, Christian families, and the next generation of believers--every one of us should be watching. And praying.