I am speaking as one with many Charismatic friends but I personally have not had a similar experience so I am necessarily an outsider. It seems to me that part of the problem for a more universal acceptance is that the essentially Charismatic experience is simply not a universal one. You say that “These realities (prophecy, word of wisdom, miracles, etc…), … are, I believe, essential for the Charismatic life of the church” and that is the very heart of the issue for me.

I have worshipped in large churches where there were also a significant number of Charismatic believers and have witnessed participation during services with expressions of speaking in tongues and prophecies. I have also personally participated in healing ministries. The very particularity of the experience that others are having is very interesting but does not seem to result in greater fellowship especially when the response afterwards is something like “what, you didn’t feel the Spirit moving?”

Likewise, for my Charismatic brothers and sisters, the “standard” worship services were unsatisfactory and they usually ended up getting together with other like-minded believers to worship more in ways that allowed the completely free expression of the Spirit. i have been a frequent visitor to these special services too but with no noticeable improvement in the ‘result’.

Live to serve : Serve to live