Car halted, unexpectedly, leaving place of worship (9)
I believe the answer is:
cathedral
'place of worship' is the definition.
(cathedral is a kind of place of worship)
'car halted unexpectedly' is the wordplay.
'unexpectedly' indicates anagramming the letters.
'car'+'halted'='carhalted'
'carhalted' with letters rearranged gives 'CATHEDRAL'.
'leaving' is the link.
(Other definitions for cathedral that I've seen before include "dramatic murder location" , "religious site" , "religious building" , "Carted Hal off to church" , "Car halted badly at the large church" .)