Freeloader given shelter by church (5)
I believe the answer is:
leech
'freeloader' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'shelter by church' is the wordplay.
'shelter' becomes 'lee' (I've seen this before**).
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'church' becomes 'ch' (common abbreviation).
'lee'+'ch'='LEECH'
'given' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for leech that I've seen before include "Blood-sucking worm or parasitical person" , "One used to bleed" , "Old medicinal sucker" , "and one of his remedies" , "Worm - sponger" .)