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I am the godmother for my niece and I am an atheist. My family doesn't know that, so to them I'm sure they still see my position in a religious light, but I obviously don't. I think of it more in terms of being there for her no matter what and doing my best to see that she grows up to be a good person, regardless of religion.
As for the money issue, all churches are going to ask for money for services, and some will be reasonable about it and some will be unreasonable. *shrug* My own experience in the Lutheran church (LCMS) is that they are *very* concerned about what you give; you have personal offering envelopes that they can track, you sign in that you were at the service so they can compare how often you go to how often you give, and they frequently have "special" donations for other organization *along* with the normal offering. Just one of many reasons why I'm not surprised the attendance there is extremely low these days.
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"The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there’s little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides"
-Carl Sagan
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