I grew up in the Methodist Church, as did Ennis; went to church every Sunday; did all the social events. But it wan't until I came to California and could not attent a Methodist Church (logistical reasons), so we walked 2 miles to a Baptist Church where I learned the "fire and brimstone" way of church-going. So, at the tender age of 16, I stopped going to church, until I entered the military and found myself in a very small town in SW Texas. I found a large Methodist Church, made a zillion friends (mostly little old "genteel" ladies who must have thought I was an orphan. They invited me to their homes for lunch, and occasionally sent a car to the base to pick me up to attend some social function. I always went by myself....until Easter Sunday, when my barracks friend asked if he could go to church with me. We were late and the only available seats were in the 1st 3-4 pews, and we were escorted up front in front of what might have been 1000 people. After the services no one greeted me; I was treated like the leper in the Bible. No more invites to lunch, ignored at social gatherings, so I stopped going to church..again. It wasn't until months later that it dawned on me the reason for this treatment....and at this point I should mention that my friend was black. I had taken a black man into a segregated church, but no one told me it was segregated, and I think the man who escorted us to our seats should have at leasted mentioned it to me, and we would have left. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had told them we were also gay. I still get a big chuckle over that!
All of this to make the point that people in rural locales consider the church to be THE single most important aspect of their lives, and damn those who don't attend church. Then along comes the "travellin' minister" and all hell breaks out...fire and brimstone in all it's majestic glory. That's not to say big churchs in big cities don't rain down the "fires of hell"...they do, just in a different way.
So for Ennis, he was trying to be what was expected of him..wife, kids, church. But over time I believe he saw it as a lost cause, so he stopped going to church, had no scocial life (at least none that we are made aware of). Again, his fear of being outed began to take over his every thought, and in the end, it destroyed everything that could have been. But his code of life (if you can't fix it, you gotta stand it) would not allow him to move to a remote location with Jack, and so, he had "to stand it".