A church opting out of a regional conference and joining a scattered distribution of others with similar policy positions may see this as constructive, but how does this fragmentation represent the minority opinions? Or is dissent not permitted?

Regional affiliations were historically favored for travel and communication reasons, with consensus being a natural consequence of geographical connections. Now, with virtual conversations and social media making remote fraternity feasible, perhaps there will be an increasing prevalence of special-interest groupings. But had the Jewish farming folks in Jesus’ time used silos, I suspect Jesus would have given us a parable about the folly of seeking uniformity within our silos.

Karl Dick, Waterloo, Ont.