Scrounger given shelter by church (5)
I believe the answer is:
leech
'scrounger' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'shelter by church' is the wordplay.
'shelter' becomes 'lee' (as in lee side, the side sheltered from wind).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'church' becomes 'ch' (common abbreviation).
'lee'+'ch'='LEECH'
'given' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for leech that I've seen before include "Blood-sucking worm or parasitic person" , "Archaic word for physician" , "One used to bleed" , "one good at sponging" , "Small worm once used for blood-letting, or a parasitical person" .)