Across

1 City club, maybe one very loud (7)

5 Historian understood America (7)

9 Preacher having energy and charm starts to excite rabble (9)

10 Safe as a rock (5)

11 Material in biblical location so fine (8)

12 Fifty-five entertained by quaint group of disciples? (6)

14 Saintly female, as Catholics recollected (11)

18 Part of East End with unusually slippery character, man in hiding (11)

21 Priest has upset prophet (6)

22 Uninteresting person interrupting disciple endlessly in party (8)

25 Applaud saint leaving cathedral city (5)

26 Butterfly that is associated with hellish fire? (9)

27 Cut observed on outside of church (7)

28 Goddess making sin seem funny (7)

Down

1 About to have a drink with English saints, showing caution (8)

2 Composer — is he prig possibly? (8)

3 Thoughts start to arrive in the course of fateful day (5)

4 Solidarity diminished with worship somehow not right (10)

5 Biblical city in pretty region (4)

6 Children catching rodent under a seat somewhere in Scotland (4,5)

7 Small mark made by bird let loose (6)

8 Writing introduction to scriptural statement of belief (6)

13 Freedom to have drink ceremony with hesitation to get drunk (10)

15 Like a non-ritualistic place of worship, one lacking spire or tower? (3,6)

16 Little singers? They are two a penny (8)

17 Stupid, as this crossword is not! (8)

19 One cleric and another holding firm (6)

20 Quiet son, one facing testing time (6)

23 Cleaner with expression of surprise wearing Empire gong (5)

24 Biblical character in old resting place (4)

Last week's solution