“I am convinced that congregations are diminished by hierarchical structures. One goal of Christian feminists is to develop and work in less hierarchical structures. We murder people’s relational capacity if the critical and depth relationships are seen as only between clergy and congregation, or if the clergy’s primary concern is with vertical versus horizontal relationships. We need a relationship perspective to influence the very church structures that often interfere or hinder relationships built on mutuality, reciprocity, and equality.”
(Brita Gill, in Women Ministers, 104-5)