Surpass old news boss embracing church (6)
I believe the answer is:
exceed
'surpass' is the definition.
(I know that surpass can be written as exceed)
'old news boss embracing church' is the wordplay.
'old' becomes 'ex' (prefix meaning former or onetime).
'news boss' becomes 'ed' (I've seen this in other clues).
'embracing' is an insertion indicator.
'church' becomes 'CE' (abbreviation for Church of England).
'ex'+'ed'='exed'
'exed' placed around 'ce' is 'EXCEED'.
(Other definitions for exceed that I've seen before include "Go beyond the limit or norm" , "Break (limit)" , "Go beyond, surpass" , "Outstrip" , "Go past, outdo" .)