Some churches are run like exclusive clubs and the members, i mean the congregation, pay membership fees or offerings as they call them. generally speaking they are not there to benefit the community they are run for the benefit of their members. Most churches also do missionary work but there it is so they can recruit new members in underdeveloped parts of the world. They get help, but they have to be converted first so it isn’t actually charity, as charity is not conditional. So actually, i disagree with your premise that they suck the community dry, those that give money to the church are their members and they give it voluntarily.

I think you are on the right track there. I guess you heard about the pastor who said that God told him that he needed a new leer jet so he could fly higher and talk to God.