Maine's high court gives father final say over daughter’s church attendance

Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court has affirmed a lower court’s decision granting a father final decision-making authority over his daughter’s religious upbringing, specifically concerning her attendance at an evangelical church. The ruling stems from the father’s argument that the church’s teachings were psychologically damaging to their child, particularly after a pastor mentioned him by name in a prayer during a service. The court emphasized that the decision was based on the parents’ inability to co-parent on religious matters and the harm caused by negative messages about one parent, not on the substance of the mother’s religious beliefs.

• The Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled a father has final decision-making authority over his daughter’s religious upbringing.
• This decision pertains to the daughter’s attendance at Calvary Chapel Greater Portland, an evangelical church.
• The father argued the church was a harmful environment and that his daughter experienced anxiety due to its teachings, specifically on the Rapture.
• A lower court found that messages from the church characterized the father negatively and were psychologically damaging to the child.
• The state’s high court affirmed the lower court’s decision, granting the father the right to decide on his daughter’s church attendance and interactions with church members.
• The court stated the allocation of final decision-making authority was due to the parents’ inability to jointly make decisions about the child’s religious upbringing.
• The mother’s lawyer intends to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
• During the dispute, the pastor of the church mentioned the father by name in a prayer, calling him ‘in need of salvation’ and the proceedings ‘an attack on God’s Word.’
• The court found the child was harmed by messages characterizing the father as an ‘enemy’ and by the mother’s unwillingness to mitigate the risk of alienating the child from her father.