AFA Action (@AfaAction)

# Pastor of Maine church, caught in middle of custody lawsuit, defends congregation Calvary Chapel Greater Portland senior pastor Travis Carey defended his congregation on "Washington Watch" after Maine's highest court upheld a custody order letting a father bar his 13-year-old daughter from church with her mother, Emily Bickford, since December 2024. Counsel represents Bickford and plans to petition the U.S. Court, arguing the ruling violates her First Amendment rights. The father has called the church a cult and claimed its teaching on the Rapture harmed his daughter. Carey called the order "an egregious overreach of the First Amendment" that strips a mother of her right to guide her child's faith and sets a precedent reaching beyond Maine. 🔗 Read more: https://afn.net/legal-courts/2026/09/09/pastor-of-maine-church-caught-in-middle-of-custody-lawsuit-defends-congregation