Layers on and around quiet parishioner (9)
I believe the answer is:
layperson
'layers on and around quiet parishioner' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'on and around quiet parishioner' is the wordplay.
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'around' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'quiet' becomes 'p' (music symbol for 'piano', ie soft or quiet).
'parishioner' becomes 'layers' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'p' inserted within 'layers' is 'laypers'.
'on' after 'laypers' is 'LAYPERSON'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for layperson that I've seen before include "Non-specialist" , "one of his flock maybe" , "parishioner?" , "Amateur" , "Not an expert" .)