2 years ago my church was much smaller, never talked about money, and preached straight from the Bible. I remember being refreshed by large portions of the sermons being read directly from the Word. Now things seem different. The church is growing LARGE, has a new BIG worship center (financed), and seems to talk about money and tithing a lot more while always mentioning how "generous" our church is. It is starting to set off red flags for me...

For at least the past 4 services my church has been asking/talking about money. A few weeks ago they had someone stand up from an organization that gives churches loans and financial help (on a Sunday morning service) and talk about investing money into that organization (that our church used) to help finance churches. The pastor even stated this week and last week that him and his wife are giving 20% additional "on top of their tithe" now to support missions.

What makes matters worse is that the church is growing a lot and I feel like this is not a responsible thing to be preaching to new believers over and over again. I know for a fact that if some of my relatives happened to come with us to church (they have not in a long time), they would comment and be very turned off by the constant "money talk." I imagine this to be the case with baby Christians as well.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem giving to the Church and we do, it's just something seems different now and my wife and I have both noticed it separately. The first few times I brushed it off but now I can't. I hope I am just being oversensitive but I have been burned by churches with this stuff in the past (covert Hillsong takeover). Not sure what I am going to do yet but I am thinking I will be asking for some financial accountability and hopefully won't get any push-back when I ask to see their expenditures.

Any advice? Am I totally off base here? We just want to be good stewards with what God has given us.