UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA

ALEXANDRIA DIVISION

DECLARATION OF DEAN C. FISHER

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, I, Dean C. Fisher, aver as follows:

1. I am a resident of Michigan, and one of the defendants in the above-captioned action. I am employed by (deleted) as an Account Manager, and have worked for this company for 14 years.

2. I am a member of the Epiphany Community Church Unitarian Universalist in Fenton, Michigan.

3. I have been involved in various capacities with Unitarian Universalist churches for approximately 3 years. I attended Paint Creek UU Congregation in Rochester Hills Michigan for a few months before attending Epiphany Community Church. I joined ECC in October of 1998. I have been active in it’s Matthew 25 ministries, organized the Partner Church program for ECC and organized trips to visit our Christian Unitarian Partner Church in Romania. I have spoken at other UU churches regarding my Partner Church trips. I have been active in the daily life of the congregation, have been on the board, have served as Treasurer, have handled numerous odd jobs for the church including helping with finishing the office space, developed a portable sound system for the Sunday services and operated it many Sundays. I have been the largest pledge unit in the church in years past. I have been active in the Conservative Forum for UU’s, developing its website, managing its e-mail lists, maintaining its membership data base, and assisting in organizing UUA General Assembly events.

4. Mr. David Burton and I became acquainted through the web site and e-mail list of the Conservative Forum for Unitarian Universalists, which I was operating. The Conservative Forum for Unitarian Universalists is an "independent affiliate" of Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA).

5. Mr. Burton and I discussed our belief in God, our experiences and the current situation within the UUA. We discovered that we shared a Unitarian approach to God and valued the Unitarian tradition. It had also been our mutual experience that the UUA and most congregations were poor stewards of the Unitarian tradition that we and many others value, and it is in danger of being entirely forgotten. We agreed that the dominance of atheists (also called humanists in UU circles) in many UU congregations had made it difficult for those who believe in God to have a valuable religious experience and that atheists and theists do not have enough in common religiously to be a part of the same "religious" organization, and that the name Unitarian, evoking a belief in God, was inconsistent with atheism. We agreed that the UUA's recent effort to embrace various polytheist traditions (including self-described pagans, Wiccans and others practicing "witchcraft") constituted a further repudiation of the Unitarian monotheist tradition. We agreed that it was ironic and a shame that many, if not most, UUs are hostile to Christianity and a belief in God in contradiction to the proclaimed tolerance of Unitarian Universalism, particularly given the fact that both the Unitarian side of Unitarian Universalism and the Universalist side of Unitarian Universalism were originally Christian religious movements.

6. On the basis of our shared concerns and beliefs outlined in the previous paragraph, Mr. Burton and I decided to launch an organization to promote the Unitarian tradition and to honor the American Unitarian heritage. We decided to research whether the American Unitarian Association (AUA) name could be used for this organization. This was our preferred choice of name because the AUA promoted the Unitarian tradition in America for 136 years before the UUA formed its new faith and strayed so definitively from Unitarian roots during the last 40 years.

7. Since Mr. Burton is an attorney, I asked him to undertake the incorporation of the new organization.

8. Mr. Burton began by making inquiries with appropriate state incorporation offices. He reported to me that the American Unitarian Association corporate name was available in Massachusetts (the domicile of the Unitarian Universalist Association) and in Virginia.

9. Mr. Burton conducted a search of internet not-for-profit databases. He reported to me that, according to these databases, no not-for-profit organization with the name American Unitarian Association existed or had tax-exempt tax status.

10. Mr. Burton conducted a search at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He reported to me that the name American Unitarian Association was not a registered trademark, but that the Unitarian Universalist Association had filed for trademarks for: UU World on November 21, 2000; UU & Me on July 28, 1997; Unitarian Universalist Service Committee on May 3, 1993; World Journal of Unitarian Universalist Association on May 21, 1987; Beacon on April 18, 1986; Unitarian Universalist on November 11, 1976; and Concord Library on December 20, 1991. In addition, the UUA had filed for trademarks on various symbols.

11. This information indicated to me that the UUA both was well aware of the requirements of trademark law and had taken steps to protect many "Unitarian Universalist" names and symbols. It was also apparent that the UUA had never filed to protect the "American Unitarian Association" name or anything with the words "Unitarian" or "Universalist" standing alone.

12. I have looked at the UUA web site and have not seen any indication that the UUA has been engaging in commerce in the name of the American Unitarian Association. I have read portions of the By-laws of the UUA (more than 100 pages), wherein the American Unitarian Association is mentioned in the preamble, which states in relevant part that "The name of this Association shall be Unitarian Universalist Association. It is the successor to the American Unitarian Association, which was founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1847, and the Universalist Church of America, which was founded in 1793 and incorporated in 1866."

13. In all of my association with Unitarian Universalist churches and reading the Unitarian Universalist Association magazine (UU World), I have never seen any product, service or message sold or delivered under the American Unitarian Association name.

14. Mr. Burton also researched trademark law. He reported to me that under the Lanham Act, it appeared the American Unitarian Association name had been abandoned by the UUA because the UUA has not used it in commerce for four decades, since the 1961 formation of the UUA. Mr. Burton was of the opinion that, even if the UUA had at one time had rights in the AUA name, their lack of commercial use for so long constituted "abandonment" under the terms of trademark law and, therefore, the American Unitarian Association name should legally be available for use.

15. Mr. Burton and I agreed that he should incorporate the American Unitarian Association as a nonstock corporation organized for religious and charitable purposes in Virginia, which he did on or about September 20, 2000. He also filed for a federal trademark for the name American Unitarian Association on or about December 13, 2000 (serial number 78/039170).

16. Mr. Burton and I agreed that I would obtain the domain name www.americanunitarian.org for the corporation, which I did. We launched the American Unitarian Association web site during the last part of December 2000.

17. Mr. Burton and I decided to use the name American Unitarian Association for our new organization because the name is legally available and because we do not believe we are inventing a new religion in any sense, but are trying to recover and preserve the Unitarian religion that the UUA has largely repudiated and destroyed.

18. Under the AUA’s Articles of Incorporation, Mr. Burton and I became the initial directors of the AUA. The Board of Directors named Mr. Burton as President and myself as Treasurer and Secretary.

19. The AUA has not and is not asking any person or congregation to leave the UUA. It is our expectation, as the directors and officers of the AUA, that most individuals and congregations that join the AUA will retain their affiliation with the UUA. Since the AUA will retain its independence from the UUA, we anticipate that some individuals and congregations may join the AUA without affiliating with the UUA.

20. On April 21-22, 2001, the American Unitarian Association held its organizational meeting in Mount Vernon, Virginia.

21. All of the actions that serve as the basis for the Complaint filed against me by the UUA in the above-captioned action I have taken solely in one of my capacities as a director or officer of the American Unitarian Association and all of my actions were within the scope of my responsibilities with the American Unitarian Association.

22. I have received no salary, wages or remuneration of any kind for my services as an officer or director of the AUA. I have received no compensation or payment of any kind from the AUA or from any other source for my work in connection with the AUA. All of my activities to date have been as a volunteer for a non-profit organization. For the future, I intend to continue to volunteer my services to the AUA, provided however, that I have been and may be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses incurred by me on behalf of the AUA. I have not received any other thing of value in lieu of compensation for my services as an officer or director of the AUA.

23. I am motivated to do this volunteer work for the AUA entirely by the desire to preserve and promote the Unitarian religious heritage and tradition of belief in God for myself, my children and for others that may find it of value. My work with the AUA is a direct expression of my religious faith.

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.

Executed: May 8, 2001 By: ____________________________

Dean C. Fisher

Fenton, Michigan