Gospel the preacher lost first (7)
I believe the answer is:
evangel
'gospel' is the definition.
('evangel' can be a synonym of 'gospel')
I cannot understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for evangel that I've seen before include "good news for Christians!" , "Gospel of the New Testament" , "Name applied to any of the four main Gospels" , "moral doctrine" , "Matthew maybe" .)