Attendants typically feared church being swamped by poultry workers? (8)
I believe the answer is:
henchmen
'attendants typically feared' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'church being swamped by poultry workers?' is the wordplay.
'church' becomes 'ch' (common abbreviation).
'being swamped by' indicates putting letters inside (inserted letters are covered up or swamped).
'poultry' becomes 'hen' (hen is a kind of poultry).
'workers?' becomes 'men' (men can mean staff or employees).
'hen'+'men'='henmen'
'ch' inserted into 'henmen' is 'HENCHMEN'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for henchmen that I've seen before include "Followers of gang leaders or politicians" , "Faithful supporters or gang members" , "Partners in crime" .)