Subtlety in article penned by religious figure going to church (6)
I believe the answer is:
nuance
'subtlety' is the definition.
(I know that subtlety can be written as nuance)
'article penned by religious figure going to church' is the wordplay.
'article' becomes 'a' (the indefinite article in English).
'penned by' indicates putting letters inside (inserted letters are penned in).
'religious figure' becomes 'nun' (I've seen this in another clue).
'going to' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'church' becomes 'CE' (abbreviation for Church of England).
'a' placed within 'nun' is 'nuan'.
'nuan'+'ce'='NUANCE'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for nuance that I've seen before include "Subtle variation, in meaning say" , "Fine distinction" , "A hint or shade" , "A slight shade or trace" , "Ace nun (anag)" .)