Associate of bishop taken in by viral sensation is the first to repent (6)
I believe the answer is:
member
'associate' is the definition.
(I know that member is a type of associate)
'bishop taken in by viral sensation is the first to repent' is the wordplay.
'bishop' becomes 'B' (chess abbreviation).
'taken in by' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'viral sensation' becomes 'meme' (I've seen this in another clue).
'is the first to' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'repent' is 'r'.
'b' inserted within 'meme' is 'membe'.
'membe'+'r'='MEMBER'
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for member that I've seen before include "Limb; society joiner" , "Elected person" , "either left or right wing, say" , "Projecting body part" , "Part of body or club associate" .)