Layman in the church perhaps? (9)
I believe the answer is:
chorister
'layman' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'the church perhaps?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is present in the answer.
'church' could be 'ch' (common abbreviation) and 'ch' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for chorister that I've seen before include "Choir member" , "Boy singing" , "Boy singer" , "Church, cathedral singer" , "Choirboy or girl" .)