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Clergyman missing final church worship (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

reverence

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'worship' is the definition.
(I know that worship is a more specific form of reverence)

'clergyman missing final church' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'clergyman' could be 'rev' (short for reverend) and 'rev' is found in the answer.
'church' could be 'ce' (Church of England) and 'ce' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for reverence that I've seen before include "Great respect or veneration" , "Deep respect" , "Esteem" , "Devoted veneration" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times and The Sunday Times.
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