The Very Rev Martin Thrower had previously pleaded not guilty to two charges of voyeurism but changed his pleas to guilty after evidence was heard from a 17 year old witness in his trial today at Norwich Crown Court.
William Carter, prosecuting, said the 56-year-old clergyman was caught when the teenager heard a noise above him as he sat on the toilet at the Buttermarket shopping centre in Ipswich, Suffolk.
The court heard that he looked up to discover someone's hand holding a mobile phone that was filming him.
Giving evidence, the teen said: "I automatically jumped up and grabbed the phone."
He said it left him feeling "Awful - shaken - just terrible. It was horrible".
The teenager took the phone to a security officer who alerted police.
The rector of Hadleigh, Layham and Shelley in Suffolk was arrested at the Buttermarket in Ipswich in August 2016, accused of recording a private act with the intention of viewing footage for his own sexual gratification and of recording another person for the same reason.
Police found three further videos recorded on the phone that day including of two other men who had not noticed they were being filmed. When officers seized computer equipment from his home, they found nearly 600 similar images.
Rev Thrower remains suspended from all roles by the Diocese of St Edmundsbury in Ipswich.
In a statement released outside court, Dr David Jenkins, Archdeacon of Sudbury, said he apologised "unreservedly" to those affected by Thrower's behaviour.
He added: "As with all serious safeguarding situations we will now review the whole case to see if any lessons can be learnt.
"The Church of England in Suffolk takes safeguarding very seriously and is committed to making all its churches a safer place for all."
The trial continues.
