The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word WESLEYAN
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
W
E
S
L
E
Y
A
N
More clues leading to the result WESLEYAN
- Woman, heading off to visit sickly chapelgoer
- Methodist law seen to change around end of May
- Methodist seen way off, round back of cathedral
- Methodist from Wales with yen for reform
- Christian playing partners no golfer’s backing
- Protestant ordered New York’s premier ales
- Coming from Wales Nye is a nonconformist
- Like an old church lane with yews here and there
- This nonconformistmay be newly saved, converted
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Methodist" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case methodist = wesleyan.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.