In this short reflection I will keep faith with the context assigned to me by the organisers of the symposium: the local church, by which, here, I mean the pastoral reality of life in the parish and diocese. I will begin by exploring what I mean by conversation. I will then say how I see consultation as different from conversation. Finally, in this section, I will propose an understanding of dialogue in terms of both of these. Please note, in holding unapologetically that honest conversation is integral to a synodal way of being church, I am not in any way proposing that our church be organized on a congregational model.