help on portrait positions

One thing that has worked well for my family, when faced with this situation, is to have everyone link arms and take a horizontal shot of them all lined up, facing the camera. It works best against a simple backdrop (evergreen trees or light-toned backgrounds have been very successful for my family), and it can work for groups of up to 6 people or so with a normal lens. It's a more casual approach, but can convey a spirit of lightheartedness and connectedness that is nice. Having the line curve ever so slightly towards the camera, so that the people on the ends are slightly closer to the camera than the people in the middle, gives a sense of inclusiveness and keeps the folks on the ends from "drifting' out into space, so to speak.

I don't have hands-on experience, but I think adjustable-height photo stools will help you get there. Church directories don't have a lot of acreage, so seated shots are probably what's called for, so that the faces don't get too tiny. The small-group equivalent of a head shot might be waist-up.