hello,

recording somebody's reading is easy because voice stays at certain volume most of the time. However, when somebody is giving a sermon, his voice will range drammatically.

Can I use a condenser mic for that? I have tlm103 and AKG C3000B... can any of those do the job and if so, can they handle the high preaching voice? You know guys how sometimes preachers scream in the mic... I really do not want to dammage the mics...

Or should I buy a dynamic mic? do I need to get also a limiter to protect the ADC (analog to digital convertor)?

I have no experience with preachers but i did try a lot of mics for my trumpet.
Same problem, very dynamic range required. I went with dynamic because the condensors i tried all clipped on sudden dynamic peaks.

You won't damage the mic, but the large diaphragm mics are not a good choice to use in a church. They have too wide of a response pattern, and you'll get too much unwanted signal. Better to use a very directional mic like a super or hyper cardiod pattern. My C1000s (AKG) is a great choice for this kind of work. I have 4 of them, and I record high school bands and choirs with great success. I just use a pair for the whole choir, and the result is terrific.
If you can isolate the speaker (preacher) from the rest of the crowd, the C3000 might do ok, but I'd avoid that tlm103 - it's too sensitive, and will not give you the best result.

I'm with UD.

The AKG C1000S is a great choice for life and recording. I have done both with good results.
I also own a C3000 (not C3000B), but I still have to play with it. It is a lot more sensitive than the C1000.

Eric