Listen to This Conversation
What does it mean to live with hope when so much feels uncertain or in decline? In this conversation, we explore the idea of post-Christendom – the shift away from Christianity as a cultural center of power – and how that creates both loss and opportunity. Rather than trying to reclaim influence, Andrew Dungan and I talk about how this moment invites us to reimagine what faithfulness can look like: more humble, more local, and more rooted in the life and teachings of Jesus.
We condisder how a hope-filled future isn’t about returning to what was, but about living differently in the world as it is – with imagination, courage and grace.
Many of us are living with a deep dissatsifaction – with organized relgion as it’s been, with society as it is, and with the pace and patterns of life that leaves us gragmented and exhausted.
Counter Presence: Disssatisfaction Rooted in Hope is a series of conversations born from that unrest, and from a longing to live more grounded, more human, and more faithful lives. It’s about cultivating a presence shaped by the life and teachigns of Jesus, and fored through commuity, simplicity, mutuality, and hope – as exemplified by the Anabaptist tradition.
Not as an escape, but as a faithful way of being in the world, together.
Intro/Outro music by Skinfiltr8r.
About Andrew:
Dr. Andrew S Dungan serves as pastor of Summit Street Church, a Mennonite Church USA affiliated congregation, located in Beatrice, Nebraska. Summit Street Church is Jesus-centered, others-focused, neighborhood church located in the very same neighborhood that Andrew grew up in. Andrew earned a Masters Degree in Christian Education from Bethel Seminary (St. Paul, MN) and a Doctorate in Leadership from Creighton University. Directly out of seminary Andrew served as Pastor of Ministry Development for a non-denominational church in Omaha, NE. That work was short-lived, however, as he exited the ministry (and “church“) dissatisfied, discouraged, disgruntled and disenfranchised, vowing that he’d “never do that (ministry) again.” God had other plans and Andrew has a new appreciation and compassion for those who “dig Jesus, but not the church.”
After leaving the ministry, Andrew worked the next 10 years in the nonprofit sector finding his niche in developing organizational systems and engaging volunteers. Andrew enjoys working through sticky organizational problems and finding places for people to get involved. Back in the pastorate, Andrew is a voice for new church possibilities and for Neighborhood-Narrative Theology – for a fresh praxis of actively re-contextualizating scripture in embodied ways with others in local neighborhoods. Andrew has been characterized as “angsty productive,” living with a creative dissatisfaction that fuels his imagination and his urgency. His Substack, “Wired for Urgency,” is a space intended to confront cliché and explore Jesus-centered faith for the disillusioned, the restless, and the called. He has a wife, Alicyn, and two children: Beckett and Emberly.
Dive Deeper
Christianity no longer sits at the center of cultural life—and that might be a gift. In this episode, we explore how the decline of Christendom is reshaping our understanding of mission, power, and community. Rather than grasping for influence, we’re invited to rediscover a quieter, humbler way of being followers of Jesus—rooted in presence, not platform.
Here are some books to help you reflect more deeply on what it means to live faithfully in this post-Christendom landscape:
- Post-Christendom: Church and Mission in a Strange New World by Stuart Murray
- The Church After Christendom by Stuart Murray
- Faithful Presence: Seven Disciplines That Shape the Church for Mission by David Fitch
- Resident Aliens by Stanley Hauerwas & William Willimon
- The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: The Improbable Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire by Alan Kreider