Prosecutors say Bryce Whitt and three others entered the church, broke open a safe, damaged several instruments and then took cash.
Whitt is scheduled to be sentenced next month.
Joshua Hower pleaded guilty to similar charges, and two other suspects, Andrew Baker and Cortney Hill, are awaiting trial.
EARLIER REPORT (July 30)
Four people charged with breaking and entering at a Champaign County church have been connected to vandalism of several other churches across four counties.
An ad on Facebook for an item stolen from one of the churches is what led authorities to the suspects, said Chief Deputy Rick Jordan of the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office.
“That led us to one of the individuals, who then confessed to other burglaries,” he said.
Andrew Marvin Baker, 20, of St. Paris, was arrested Monday in Champaign County and was charged with two counts of breaking and entering on two reported burglaries earlier this month at the Bethel Community Church of the Nazarene and the Medway United Methodist Church in Bethel Twp.
Cortney Hill, 20, and Joshua Hower, 19 — both from Sidney — and Bryce Whitt, 20, of Urbana, also were charged with breaking and entering and safe cracking in the case.
Deputies responded to a vandalism and theft report Sunday morning at the Renewed Strength Church on U.S. 36 in Westville.
The group allegedly broke through a window of the church and stole several items, including the an amplifier, instruments and a safe, Jordan said.
A Facebook post on the group “Champaign County Buy, Sell, Trade Forum” advertised the stolen amplifier for sale, Jordan said, and led investigators to Baker.
Baker’s confession of the Westville church breaking and entering led investigators to the other suspects and tipped them off about the group hitting the other churches in Champaign, Shelby, Miami and Clark counties over the past month.
Several items were stolen, including televisions and tools in the crimes, Jordan said.
At a crime scene Saturday at the Medway church, 2250 S. Dayt0n-Lakeview Road, the group allegedly ransacked the church’s food pantry.
“This place was just trashed — it was just a mess,” said Mike Berry, senior pastor at Medway UMC. “They emptied out every bit of food, just threw eggs on the floor, turned all the tables over and just made a mess.”
Thousands of dollars in damage was reported at that scene, Berry said, but the church gathered together to quickly clean up the mess before the pantry was to open Sunday morning.
Berry said he and members of the church have forgiven the group for their actions.
“We prayed for whoever did this and we hoped that they’d be here with us — they’re forgiven,” Berry said.
Whitt and Baker pleaded not guilty to charges in a Clark County Municipal Court arraignment. They are both currently booked in the Clark County Jail.
Investigations into the church burglaries are still ongoing in the multiple counties the group hit, Jordan said, and more charges could be presented when the case is taken to a grand jury.