The Rt. Rev. Clifton Daniel III, Bishop of East Carolina, issued a pastoral letter on sexuality to members of his diocese, which was published in the November issue of Cross Current, the diocesan newspaper.

"There has been much in the life of the Episcopal Church in the last five years that has disturbed and divided us," Bishop Daniel acknowledged in the letter. "Many of these issues have centered around matters of sexual orientation and behavior, ordination and relationships." Bishop Daniel said he was sharing "the understandings to which I have come under the guidance of the Holy Spirit" with members of the diocese.

"I believe that the Christian norm for human sexuality is found in the lifelong, monogamous relationship between husband and wife," he wrote. "For unmarried persons, sexual abstinence is the Christian norm, and some may be called to celibacy as a vocation."

Bishop Daniel also addressed the role of the bishop in the ordination process, and while he recognized that the discernment of a call to ordination belongs not just to the bishop, "but to the whole community of the faithful," he also wrote of the bishop's specific task and great responsibility in the ordination process.

"It is my task, as your bishop, to look deeply into the heart of anyone called to ordination," he wrote. "If I see anything there that I believe will hurt this diocese or church, it is my responsibility to say no.

The bishop also brought up the blessing of same-sex unions, and said that until General Convention authorizes such blessings and provides liturgical forms for them, "I cannot give my consent for any clergyperson in this diocese to officiate at such an occasion."