How to set "amateur-ly" live recording for choir?

Question

Place: inside Church but not in the service.
Persons: 40 (Sopran, Alto, Tenor and Bass each 10 persons)
Question: How many mic? How to set the mic position? What kind of mic?
And 1 more thing, due to budget issue (and we're doing it ourself, not with professionals), how to take less budget for more result?
Thank you. God Bless.

Daniel:
Thanks for the respon.
Oh I forgot to tell you that I live in Indonesia, so we don't have RadioShack in here, but I'll try to find what you suggested me. Oh and my laptop do have a stereo input and even a set of "recording software" and everything elses, I use to record a live music but this is Choir we are talking about, I've tried, it's different, that's why I posted this. Thanks anyway.
Be Blessed.

Answer 1

Personally, I have had great success using Crown PZM boundary mics. They have a very natural sound from distance and a stereo pair set up maybe 20 feet away (experiment with it) will give you a lifelike recording. I bought 2 at Radio Shack (you can also get them at ZZounds, Musiciansfriend and such). I paid about $50 each though they are probably somewhat higher now. You could use your laptop to do the recording. If you bought a Tascam USB interface for about $150 (see above sources). It also includes software to do editting and recording, though you CAN just use the sound recorder that comes with it. Your laptop may not have a stereo input, though, so beware.

Answer 2

First of all, hire, don't buy. There should be professionals willing to rent out sound equipment and it's much cheaper to hire a system for a day than to buy the whole system. Remember that, in addition to microphones, you'll need a good relay system (mixer, speakers, etc.). It's just not worth it to buy a system for a day's (or even a week's) worth of recording.

The persons who give you the system on rent should be able to advise you on the kind of microphones you need. George's suggestion of boundary mics is good and boundaries is what I'd choose if I were organising the programme.