Small company car going to church, in spirit (6)
I believe the answer is:
scotch
'spirit' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'small company car going to church' is the wordplay.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'company' becomes 'co' (abbreviation).
'car' becomes 't'.
'going to' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'church' becomes 'ch' (common abbreviation).
's'+'co'+'t'+'ch'='SCOTCH'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for scotch that I've seen before include "Put an end to - in Caledonia?" , "Put an end to - whisky spelt thus?" , "liquor" , "tot" , "Cut - wedge - whisky" .)