Head of church (non-clerical) has date to practise service here? (4,5)
I believe the answer is:
clay court
'practise service here?' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'head of church non-clerical has date' is the wordplay.
'head of' says to take the initial letters.
'non-clerical' becomes 'lay' (I've seen this before).
'has' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'date' becomes 'court' (I've seen this in another clue).
The first letter of 'church' is 'c'.
'c'+'lay'+'court'='CLAY COURT'
'to' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for clay court that I've seen before include "Alternative to lawn for tennis?" , "Base for play" .)