Interview with Rev. Drew Ensz (UMC Elder Under Complaint For More Than 3 Years)

Rev. Drew Ensz is clergy in the Virginia Annual Conference. Has been awaiting a church trial for years after having been brought up on charges for conducting the legal wedding ceremony of two gay men in his capacity as clergy of a college ecumenical ministry. We focused a little on his story in our segment on Bishop Sharma Lewis' conduct in the Mississippi Annual Conference, bringing up two clergy for performing the nuptials for a 'nonbinary' couple. As another who had drawn the attention of Bishop Lewis, Rev. Ensz is eager to tell his story and to advocate for change within The United Methodist Church. Though his worldview and theology are the polar opposite of ours, we thought it would be helpful to discuss the issues at play with him in a spirit of mutual respect. Drew was a joy to speak and share that time with. Our hope is that you learn about him, about how the UMC's justice system can often break down, and how there isn't much ground for mutual cooperation in a covenant body that is home to liberal and conservative visions of sexual ethics.

Please let us know your thoughts on the conversation in the comments. What points do you find helpful? Where do you think we got things right? What seemed off base, strange, or false to you? Use this as an exercise to see if you might be able to speak accurately about what you believe without the invective and hate that so often accompanies these conversations. Also, we hope this helps you think about how you can pray for those with whom you disagree. We want this to turn down the temperature in the UMC. Your prayers are essential for helping that to happen.

Links from Interview:

- https://www.resourceumc.org/en/churchwide/judicial-council-decision-home/judicial-decisions/judicial-council-memorandum-1466

- https://vimeo.com/721268808

- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4706071/

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