Raise the spirits at church, always (5)
I believe the answer is:
cheer
'raise' is the definition.
(I know that cheer is a type of encourage)
'at church always' is the wordplay.
'at' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'church' becomes 'ch' (common abbreviation).
'always' becomes 'eer' (poetic way of saying ever).
'ch' next to 'eer' is 'CHEER'.
'the spirits' acts as a link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cheer that I've seen before include "hurrah" , "Shout of praise or joy" , "Applaud with shouts" , "Applause - encourage" , "Fare" .)