One Karen Yates, here, wants church to be more, well . . . horizontal:
Think of what a typical church gathering looks like. During the teaching portion, we sit in our chairs, take notes, follow along in the outline, and listen to our pastor deliver his well-prepared lecture on John's letter to the church in Laodicea, or whatever the passage or topic may be. We hear the message, we write our notes, but are we learning? ... Although the message from the pulpit can seem like the "main act," going to church is about relating to one another in Christian community. ... Would we allow that the church is not the church because of our pastor's sermons, but because of the interaction of the congregation, the formation of community around the Word of God?
Somehow I don't think she's ever formed a small, relational Christian community with her husband around this part of the Word of God:
For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silence in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as even the law says. If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.
-- 1 Cor. 14:33ff.
