But the Venerable Dr Kelvin Wright said yesterday he believed the policy "inevitably will change", as the views of New Zealand society changed.
"Social attitudes change.
I think the church will change its attitude too."
The Ven Dr Wright has been elected as the new Bishop of Dunedin, after 11 years as vicar of St John's, Roslyn, in Dunedin.
He said yesterday he planned to take a "collegial" line, and remain in unity with his fellow bishops.
That meant observing the moratorium on the ordination of partnered gay and lesbian people urged by the church.
The issue was revived recently, when the Rev Juan Kinnear, the gay priest whose ordination at St Paul's Cathedral in 2006 sparked controversy in the Anglican Church, made clear he feared the Otago Southland diocese would become more conservative following the retirement of the Bishop of Dunedin, the Right Rev George Connor.
Bishops and dioceses have been asked by the church to observe the moratorium, though it has been described as a communion-wide recommendation, not a directive.
The Ven Dr Wright said the Rt Rev Connor had a "slightly different interpretation" of the issue, and had seen the moratorium more as a guideline, while he saw it more as the church's policy.
The church contained a broad spectrum of public opinion, and had to move at the pace of its slowest members.
The bishop-elect has been prominent recently in his opposition to Ryman Healthcare's rest-home on Highgate, and is president of the Community Preservation Society, an organisation established to oppose the building.
He converted to Christianity at a Pentecostal church while he was at university, and joined the Anglican Church while he was teaching at Rongotai College in Wellington.
The Ven Dr Wright said his role was to lead the church in Otago and Southland.
"It's a case of encouraging, inspiring and equipping people."
That involved meeting people, and he expected to be spending plenty of time driving to rural areas to do so.
Asked what he would bring to the role, he said it would be an ability to listen, and reconcile quite deep differences.
As well, he had the ability to come up with good, visionary ideas, and formulate plans that could be achieved.
The church faced the problem of declining attendances, and that was one challenge he would have to face.
The Ven Dr Wright will be installed as bishop at a service at St Paul's on February 27.
The Rt Rev Connor, will retire at the end of November.
