Old singer turned tail in church and left (8)
I believe the answer is:
minstrel
'old singer' is the definition.
'minstrel' can be an answer for 'singer' (minstrel is a kind of singer). I am not sure about the 'old' bit.
'turned tail in church and left' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'in' is present in the answer.
'left' could be 'l' (common abbreviation) and 'l' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for minstrel that I've seen before include "Strolling player" , "Wandering musician of old" , "one entertains" , "Medieval wandering musician" , "Travelling singer in Middle Ages" .)