Alexandra, when one refers to the 'institution' I get the impression that one is distancing oneself from that 'institution'. I understand the concept of the People of God but surely that includes everybody, clergy and laity together and not as separate entities permanently at loggerheads.
A massive body such as the Church with 1.2 billion members must have some structure to prevent it from disintegrating. From Scripture and Tradition I understand the Church be hierarchical, the teachers deriving their authority and charism from Christ and the rest of us, the taught: ecclesia docents and ecclesia discens. It has to be so, otherwise anarchy will ensue and has already in some parts of the world. The recent Synods showed how difficult it is for a few hundred to come to agreement let alone 1.2 billion.