One book stolen from church: worker suspended (7)
I believe the answer is:
abeyant
'suspended' is the definition.
('abeyant' can be a synonym of 'suspended')
'one book stolen from church worker' is the wordplay.
'one book' becomes 'b'.
'stolen from' is a deletion indicator.
'church' becomes 'abbey' (abbey is a kind of church).
'worker' becomes 'ant' (worker is a type of ant).
'abbey' with 'b' taken out is 'abey'.
'abey'+'ant'='ABEYANT'
(Other definitions for abeyant that I've seen before include "Adjourned" , "In temporary suspension" , "in suspense" , "temporarily suspended" .)