Bishop close accepting first female minister (8)
I believe the answer is:
reverend
'minister' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'bishop close accepting first female' is the wordplay.
'bishop' becomes 'rr' (abbreviation for Right Reverend).
'close' becomes 'end' (close can mean to end or finish).
'accepting' means one lot of letters goes inside another (inserted letters are accepted).
'first female' becomes 'eve' (in the Bible).
'rr'+'end'='rrend'
'rrend' going around 'eve' is 'REVEREND'.
(Other definitions for reverend that I've seen before include "Priest" , "Title of respect for a member of the clergy" , "Cleric's title" , "Title of respect for a clergyman" , "Mother may go after this" .)