Clue: Chosen to strip off, servicemen stand before the faithful (7)
Answer: LECTERN
Explanation: Chosen to strip off, servicemen stand before the faithful (7)
(e)**LECTE**(d) ("chosen" stripped, i.e. with no outer layers) + **R.N. **(Royal Navy, so "servicemen") 
A lectern is a reading "stand", especially in a church so, "before the faithful".