Man takes church position (6)
I believe the answer is:
stance
'position' is the definition.
(stance is a kind of position)
'man takes church' is the wordplay.
'man' becomes 'stan' (**).
'takes' says to put letters next to each other.
'church' becomes 'ce' (abbreviation for Church of England).
'stan'+'ce'='STANCE'
(Other definitions for stance that I've seen before include "One's physical or mental attitude" , "Position or attitude taken" , "Attitude (of body, mind)" , "policy" , "Posture; point of view" .)