Amateur hangers-on supporting state minister (5)
I believe the answer is:
vicar
'minister' is the definition.
(a religious minister)
'amateur hangers-on supporting state' is the wordplay.
'amateur hangers-on' becomes 'ar' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'supporting' means one lot of letters go next to another (in a down clue, some letters go below others).
'state' becomes 'vic' (abbreviation for Victoria, Australian state).
'ar' put after 'vic' is 'VICAR'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for vicar that I've seen before include "Oliver Goldsmith wrote 'The . . . . . of Wakefield'" , "Cleric" , "Man (or woman) of the cloth" , "Minister" , "Man with a dog collar" .)