The Church is not a social institution, an organization, an association, a club, it is the Body of Christ. Christ is the Head (and no one else) and we are members of his Body, each in our own right. The Church is therefore the manifestation of Christ on earth. As Christ healed, forgave, comforted, loved, served, prayed to God, preached the good news, taught, blessed... the Church is called to continue all these actions. Because we are the Body of Christ, we are the feet of Jesus that go out into every place, city and country, to the ends of the earth. (Matthew 28:19) The Holy Spirit gives all kinds of gifts and ministries according to the needs of the Body. Some have claimed that not all the charisms mentioned in the New Testament were necessarily given to the Church for all time and that some were only for the early Church. There is no claim in the Bible that any one gift has disappeared. Nevertheless, the spiritual gifts will not place you above others. They are tools for building up the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:8-18; Ephesians 4:11-14).