Church girl’s sacred vessel (7)
I believe the answer is:
chalice
'sacred vessel' is the definition.
'chalice' can be an answer for 'vessel' (thesaurus). I am not certain of the 'sacred' bit.
'church girl's' is the wordplay.
'church' becomes 'ch' (common abbreviation).
'girl' becomes 'alice' (**).
'ch'+'alice'='CHALICE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for chalice that I've seen before include "Communion cup" , "Large goblet for consecrated wine" , "Wine cup used at Christian Eucharist" , "cup used in company with host" , "Sacred cup for consecrated wine" .)