Maybe it will be better in the long run to get a stand alone mixer > Power amp > speakers, that way you can upgrade any of the 3 with time instead of getting a powered mixer.

Im not a guru in live sound so wont be able to give you much advice on which would be best.

What is your music team set up right now?
Does your electric guitarist have his own amp that is powerful enough without being mic'd up? Does your bassist have his own amp? Are you needing a mixer to run out some monitors? I'm assuming that monitors aren't a necessity at this point?

What I've found works extremely well for small venues and even bigger ones, around 150-200 people... Is to have a mixer and powered speakers. The reason I'm in favor of this is that there is less that can go wrong at this point. AS WELL AS, you probably have to set up every Sunday and tear down every sunday too.. A lot easy to run a cable between two speakers, one speaker to mixer and you're set to go.

My advice is to look into some Wharfdales. http://www.wharfedalepro.com/Home/Products/POWEREDLOUDSPEAKERS/SVPPSERIES/tabid/169/Default.aspx

I'm a big fan of those. Quality stuff, and they sound great! http://www.maxmusic.co.za/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=SVP15P

Looks like they're around R3500.. Which is quite high. However, if you can pick up a good little mixer for R3-4k, you're sorted with some good sound.

At the church I'm in right now, we're running two wharfedales, with a mackie mixer. The sound it is really good!

The trend is away from large powered mixers so the chance of finding one, unless it's very old/unreliable is fairly slim.

Powered loudspeakers are a good way to go. The Warfedales are good, although not regarded as truly professional when compared to some other self powered loudspeakers on the market....however having said that in terms of you price range they will certainly do the job.

In terms of a mixer I would look for either a 2n hand Mackie, Soundcraft or Allen & Heath. again 24 channels within your budget range will be a challenge. 2nd hand mixers are also risky to buy as they are usually worn out and need a fader replacement, which can be expensive.

A mixer I highly recommend is the Soundcraft MFX series. these mixers include a Lexicon effects processor which will give you reverb for vocals etc.

http://www.soundcraft.com/products/product.aspx?pid=156

Please PM me if you want further assistance.

+1 to Tom's advice. I agree, Wharfedale's are definitely not the best, but on a budget, they sound great.

Totally agree with the mixers. I think second hand mixers are more of a hassle than anything else.

Good luck OP, if you need any other advice.. Feel free to post or pm me! ?

At the moment the setup at our church is 1 acoustic guitar, one keyboard and 4x vocals.

So I do not need a big system, but I am hoping for growth in the band... electric guitar, bass, drums, bongos, etc and would like to buy a system the I can add stuff to as necessary. I dont want to buy something I'll have to replace if your setup grows. I like the idea of having a mixer and amp separately, I'm not sure about powered speakers tho, as I have received very mixed advise regarding that.