How clumsy bell-ringer made a faux pas? (7,1,7)

'how clumsy' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'bell-ringer made a faux pas?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'bell' could be 'clanger' (I've seen this before) and 'clanger' is located in the answer.
'a' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'dropped' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?