Load of church silver, holy books missing (6)
I believe the answer is:
charge
'load' is the definition.
('charge' can be a synonym of 'load')
'church silver holy books missing' is the wordplay.
'church' becomes 'ch' (common abbreviation).
'silver' becomes 'argent' ('argent' can be a synonym of 'silver').
'holy books' becomes 'nt' (New Testament).
'missing' is a deletion indicator.
'argent' with 'nt' taken out is 'arge'.
'ch'+'arge'='CHARGE'
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for charge that I've seen before include "Move quickly and violently" , "Demand price; accuse" , "Accusation (in court)" , "person in custody" , "rate" .)