Material left by a church (4)
I believe the answer is:
lace
'material' is the definition.
(lace is a kind of material)
'left by a church' is the wordplay.
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'church' becomes 'ce' (abbreviation for Church of England).
'l'+'a'+'ce'='LACE'
(Other definitions for lace that I've seen before include "A fabric; add alcohol to" , "Shoe cord" , "Shoe tie" , "Fine decorative fabric" , "Shoestring: delicate ornamental fabric" .)