Heathen taking cooking vessel across Georgia (5)
I believe the answer is:
pagan
'heathen' is the definition.
('pagan' can be a synonym of 'heathen')
'cooking vessel across georgia' is the wordplay.
'cooking vessel' becomes 'pan' (I've seen this before).
'across' indicates putting letters inside.
'georgia' becomes 'ga'.
'pan' going around 'ga' is 'PAGAN'.
'taking' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for pagan that I've seen before include "One outside the main religions" , "Non-mainstream religious believer" , "Polytheist" , "Unbeliever" , "One who follows a polytheistic or pre-Christian religion, but not a Jew" .)