Pulls off tense clergyman (6)
I believe the answer is:
priest
'clergyman' is the definition.
(I know that priest is a type of clergyman)
'pulls off tense' is the wordplay.
'pulls off' becomes 'pries' (pry can mean to pull something off or away).
'tense' becomes 't' (abbreviation used in many dictionaries).
'pries'+'t'='PRIEST'
(Other definitions for priest that I've seen before include "Religious functionary" , "Church minister" , "Vicar" , "person of religion" , "Minister of religion" .)