Poles outside French island church still (7)
I believe the answer is:
silence
'still' is the definition.
(I know that still can be written as silence)
'poles outside french island church' is the wordplay.
'poles' becomes 'sn' (North and South poles).
'outside' is an insertion indicator.
'french island' becomes 'ile' ('island' in French).
'church' becomes 'CE' (abbreviation for Church of England).
'sn' enclosing 'ile' is 'silen'.
'silen'+'ce'='SILENCE'
(Other definitions for silence that I've seen before include "Quietness" , "Nothing said" , "Absence of sound" , "Secrecy; stillness" , "License (anag)" .)