The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word ANGLICAN
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
A
N
G
L
I
C
A
N
More clues leading to the result ANGLICAN
- John Laing surprisingly coming first to supply a church member
- Old English walls cold in one church
- Old English houses start to captivate member of church
- Many ogle vicar, one stripped in church
- English align converts with John
- Articles about German left in charge of the Church of England
- Early Ford van’s last to have accommodated Charlie Christian
- Church person, a product of Lancing
- A Christian point of view, mostly ‘It’s easy for me’
- Articles about old authority describe one churchgoer
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "English" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case english = anglican.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.