A novel division of the church (7)
I believe the answer is:
chapter
'a novel division' is the definition.
'chapter' can be an answer for 'division' (I have seen 'Division of book ' mean 'chapter' so perhaps 'division' could also mean 'chapter'). I am not certain of the 'a novel' bit.
'church' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'church' could be 'ch' (common abbreviation) and 'ch' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'apter' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'of the' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for chapter that I've seen before include "reading- matter" , "series of events" , "Episode" , "Cathedral body" , "Book division - assembly of canons" .)