Howard Temple admitted 12 charges in court, including five of indecent assault, three days into his trial in Greymouth on Wednesday, having earlier denied 24 counts of sexual offending against girls and women.
The charges the 85-year-old pleaded guilty to included five of doing an indecent act and two of common assault.
The other charges were dismissed.
Temple was remanded on bail until August 11 when a date would be set for his sentencing.
Former Gloriavale member John Ready told Morning Report he was surprised by the verdict change.
"I thought [Temple] would just fight it till the wheels fell off, I just thought wow he changed, pleaded guilty, the strength of the testimony would've been strong," he said.
Ready did not believe the outcome of the trial would change much in Gloriavale.
"I think the community will just carry on, they already have a leadership replacement in place," he said.
"Their worldview (is) just not in line with reality and that's why we have to go to court to do any sort of negotiation with them because a sit-down, face-to-face talk is just impossible with speaking different languages it seems like."
Outside the court on Wednesday, the mother of one of the complainants, who cannot be named, said she cried in the public gallery when Temple initially denied the charges.
"I was thinking you are the shepherd, you are responsible for these people. You didn't show the care of a shepherd," she said.
"It's a milestone that our voice has been heard. A leader of Gloriavale has acknowledged that he has done wrong to our children.
"We do not want future generations of children suffering this and going through the same scenario."
The original offending dated from 1998 to 2022, involving nine complainants ranging in age from nine to 20.
Five of the nine complainants gave evidence over the first two days of the trial, describing a culture of fierce patriarchy, where women and girls were at risk of being deemed rebellious or worldly for anything from tying the belt on their uniform incorrectly to allowing too much hair to be visible under their headscarves.
The women described Temple taking advantage of the domestic duties they performed to touch, caress and grope them. They said it happened during meal times, when they would be serving large, heavy jugs of non-alcoholic cider or hot drinks to tables of 50 or more.
One woman said she was left without "any hands free to protect myself".
Temple was also alleged to have frequented the kitchen to "hug" the young women from behind while they were cooking or washing dishes, kissing them on their necks, touching their breasts or making lewd remarks.
The women said there was no way to refuse Temple, nor to report his actions to anyone, in the context of the complete control Gloriavale's leaders wielded over members.
