Clergyman in front of church soon (5)
I believe the answer is:
canon
'clergyman' is the definition.
(canon is a kind of clergyman)
'front of church soon' is the wordplay.
'front of' suggests taking the first letters (the letter at the front of the word).
'soon' becomes 'anon' (synonyms).
The initial letter of 'church' is 'c'.
'c'+'anon'='CANON'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for canon that I've seen before include "senior cleric" , "Moron" , "General principle or kind of clergyman" , "Basic law or principle" , "set of books" .)