Saints admitting sin after hesitation in acts of worship (8)
I believe the answer is:
services
'acts of worship' is the definition.
(as in a church service)
'saints admitting sin after hesitation' is the wordplay.
'saints' becomes 'ss'.
'admitting' is an insertion indicator.
'sin' becomes 'vice'.
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'hesitation' becomes 'er'.
'vice' put after 'er' is 'ervice'.
'ss' placed around 'ervice' is 'SERVICES'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for services that I've seen before include "Motorway rest stop" , "Maintains" , "Army, navy and air force" , "court actions" , "Acts of assistance" .)