The SIAFU Guidebook

70 The SIAFU Network Guidebook

Objection 7: We already have a network of other churches we relate to, and enjoy great fellowship and collaboration together.

The Argument: “Although the SIAFU Network sounds great, we already are a part of a healthy association and denomination which serves our needs wonderfully. We meet together regularly, do outreaches together, and fellowship in one another’s churches often. I really don’t see the need for joining this network when our current associations are so healthy and are working so well for us.” The Answer: The SIAFU Network affirms all healthy church and Christian associations and seeks to both enrich and broaden their impact and effect. SIAFU Chapters unashamedly affirm the necessity of Christian unity and renewal, especially among individual congregations and urban connections. The Network was conceived with the burden of finding ways to encourage the priority of urban disciples and urban congrega- tions working together, respecting and befriending one another for the sake of the Kingdom. If your church is a part of a vital network, by no means should you exit or tamper with it! This is precisely what the SIAFU Network is seeking to inspire and instigate. Still, the SIAFU Network may enrich your current association, given its scope and broad clientele. We believe that urban Christians are part of a larger connection, related to their unique experience as urban dwellers in at-risk communities. They all share the same longings, difficulties, experiences, vulnerabilities, and challenges. Because of their shared experience with those not only in their locale but across the country, they can be welcomed into a larger network which can only build up their association.