"I think you will find the Church tries to use its accumulated wealth in the best possible way. The property the church holds is largely church buildings and accommodation for clergy and for the needy. And these are supported in large part by donations from church members. It's hard to see why...
The right of the Church to take as much money as they want whenever they want existed since the time of Henry 8th. It was not invoked till a famous case in 2003. Since then people were able to take relatively cheap insurance. If you bought before that, then Solicitors did not inform of possible...
And still they recently blighted thousands of families with Chancel Repair Liability. Before that I was ambivalent but now I find myself hating the Church.