Sentence:  Wilson stressed the fact that clear as this <WSD>was</WSD> , they must have a better church , a more business-like conduct of the church organization , and an effort to get this religious center out of its rut of wild worship into a modern church organization . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)