Little work in church to manage (4)
I believe the answer is:
cope
'manage' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'little work in church' is the wordplay.
'little work' becomes 'op'.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'church' becomes 'CE' (abbreviation for Church of England).
'op' put into 'ce' is 'COPE'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for cope that I've seen before include "Manage, make do" , "Priest's cloak; deal (with)" , "Manage to deal with the vestment" , "Vestment; get along" , "Manage effectively" .)