Your Church status, business ownership, etc etc means squat. Your afacing a criminal record, fines, probation. Not including Civil Demand which should bew around $250.00. What you need is a Lawyer! This Lawyer can look into Diversion as option to avoid criminal record. You can also consider enrolling, before court, in an Anti Shoplifting class to show Judge remorse. I know of such a class. Contact me and I will give you the info for their Director