Shelter church person who's a freeloader (5)
I believe the answer is:
leech
'a freeloader' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'shelter church' is the wordplay.
'shelter' becomes 'lee' (as in lee side, the side sheltered from wind).
'church' becomes 'ch' (abbreviation on maps etc).
'lee'+'ch'='LEECH'
'person who's' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for leech that I've seen before include "Blood sucker" , "One who sponges on others" , "Small worm once used for blood-letting, or a parasitical person" , "Sucking parasite" , "Proverbial bloodsucker" .)