From the old church, a light has started to shine (5)
I believe the answer is:
excel
'to shine' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'from the old church a light has started' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'from' could be 'ex' ('from' in Latin) and 'ex' is present in the answer.
'church' could be 'ce' (Church of England) and 'ce' is located in the answer.
A single letter 'l' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for excel that I've seen before include "Do particularly well" , "Do really well, outshine others" , "Be highly proficient" , "Outrival" , "Show brilliance" .)