Oddly statue by church is brass (5)
I believe the answer is:
sauce
'is brass' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'oddly statue by church' is the wordplay.
'oddly' means one should take alternating letters.
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'church' becomes 'ce' (abbreviation for Church of England**).
The alternate letters of 'statue' are 'sau'.
'sau'+'ce'='SAUCE'
(Other definitions for sauce that I've seen before include "Cause (anag.)" , "sharp language" , "(Semi)liquid flavouring" , "Lip; foodstuff" , "Liquid on food" .)