How could i have improved this pic?

To be honest, i was tired and didn't really compose it as well as maybe i could have, but it was NOT point and shoot either
just a beautiful church on a gorgeous day
just looking for tips / advice in terms of exposure, composition, and focus
thanks.
Nikon D7100 user

The first thing is that it is slanted, looking downhill on the right. I would straighten it and the church is underexposed. You might mask it to keep that nice shy and lighten everything else. A little crop off the left would eliminate that building that is a distraction on that side. Personally, I would have stepped to the right a bit so that the lamp post was not dead center bisecting the door way. Yes, it is a very pretty building.

Nice

Looks beautiful! No need for improvement to me.

Yes, it is tilted, but aside from that, the real problem is simply a classic case of a camera only having a limited amount of dynamic range. The camera did it's best to balance the bright sky and dark church. If you exposed solely for the church, the sky would be an ugly, blown out white. If you exposed solely for the sky, the church would be even darker. Of douse HDR technique would solve the problem, but that is not always practical to do on the spot.

My number one tip for you to improve this photo is to shoot at a better time of day, meaning when the sun is shining on the front of the church, (be that in the morning or evening, whichever puts the sun on the front of the church). This would give a beautiful, warm tone to the photo and likely eliminate the exposure problem.

Also, keep the camera level to the scene, (not just a side to side tilt, but also square and level), to prevent the church from "leaning" back. This can require shooting from a higher vantage point or the use of a tilt / shift lens, which you likely do not have, (most people don't except professional architecture photographers).

Overall, not a bad photo. Shooting at a better time of day would be the largest and easiest improvement.

You have good suggestions. I'd also try to get better lighting, such as a better time of day (preferably when sunlight is fully or partially illuminating the front of the church. (You could have also used a polarizing filter, but there are pros and cons to those, as all filters).

I'd also watch the angle of the camera, both the slight tilt side to side as well as up and down. Briefly there's an effect known as "keystoning" that occurs when tilting a camera up or down to take a photo of a building. If possible, try to keep the camera at a right angle to the ground.

As for composition, I think that's a good general overview, but after taking an overview shot I try to find interesting angles or views that highlight something specific and unusual, should I have the time.

Apart from the converging verticals (which you probably couldn't do much about)
It needs brightening up.
Add a touch of brightness to the image.

I think you have doe a great job of taking the photo. To make this better you would have to do a little editing to do things like lift the shadows so the church is a little lighter but you will keep the sky.

Check out this blog that can help you with this.
http://www.photosincolor.com/lightroom-1-the-basic-adjustment-panel/

Then I would straighten it a little. As you are shooting from below there's something called key-stoning happening. This is where the building is wider at the bottom because of perspective. Check out this blog and video that can correct this in about a minute.
http://www.photosincolor.com/lightroom-tutorial-6-perspective-lens-correction-in-one-step/