So, my church has elements of our services that include scripture readings and testimonies by average members of our congregation, most of whom do not have any experience speaking into a microphone. And naturally, they are fairly shy at the mic resulting in them pulling away up to 14-18 inches while speaking. We currently use a Shure SM58, as that is all we have, and obviously that mic's pickup pattern basically ends at 6 inches. We can only get so much gain before feedback at the console, and we've already tried staging the gain in different ways with makeup gain on a compressor or by using the EQ's attenuator. It's still not enough. We get traces of feedback with still not enough output with the channel dimed and the mains pushed.

I have recommended a handheld condenser mic like the Audio Technica AT2010 (church budget says I have to go cheap) but the other option i am exploring is to buy an SM86 capsule for our PGX2 transmitter and use that as the "announcement mic" as I've read that the SM86 has good pickup range up to 18 inches.

I would love more recommendations. Any help is appreciated!

You might try an EV N/D 967. It has exceptionally high off-axis rejection, hence a very high gain-to-feedback ratio.

The AT2010 has a pick up pattern at least as wide as a SM58 as well as a wider bandwidth, so may actually increase your potential feedback problems.

Relative position of the mic in relation to the loudspeakers is also something to consider. Can you reposition the podium a few feet behind the loudspeaker's front plane? Sometimes moving the mic position a few feet can have a significant effect.

The SM86 is a great microphone for inexperienced users, and it is one of my favorite live sound microphones as well, it sounds pretty good on everybody.

The EV 967 is a great microphone as well!

Tim

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My favorite mic for this purpose is as old as Hell:

The infamous "Mic of the Beast"; the Electro-Voice 666:

Seriously, one of the best mics I have ever used in this application.

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If they are using a pulpit, lectern, podium, etc., then how about a lectern mic?

Or a clip-on, if they are shy.

Gustav

Mark the spot where they are to stand with tape. Rehearse them and tell them that is the magic spot. Write in tape "magic spot."
Put the mic in a fixed location. I think a great choice would be the Heil PR31BW (http://www.heilsound.com/pro/products/pr31bw/)
American made, 40db of rear/side rejection, hears what's in front of it. Dynamic, fairly indestructible. $270.