Glass of sherry rather welcoming in church (8)
I believe the answer is:
schooner
'glass of sherry' is the definition.
'schooner' can be an answer for 'glass' (schooner is a kind of glass). I'm not certain of the 'of sherry' bit.
'rather welcoming in church' is the wordplay.
'rather' becomes 'sooner' ('I'd sooner do that' means 'I'd rather do that').
'welcoming' indicates putting letters inside (in sense of 'inviting in').
'in church' becomes 'ch' (common abbreviation. I am not sure about the 'in' bit.).
'sooner' going around 'ch' is 'SCHOONER'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for schooner that I've seen before include "Old sailing ship and tall sherry glass" , "9 [CONTAINER" , "A measure or glass for sherry" , "wooden vessel" , "boat" .)