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RUMORS OF DOING GOOD PODCAST

S05 E06

Counter | Presence

Cultivating Communities of Counter Presence

Rumors of Doing Good podcast: Counter Presence - Cultivating Communities of Counter Presence

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In this final epsiode of the Counter Presence series, we reflect on what it means to actually form countercultural communities – communities that are more than just ideas, but embodied expressions of presence, care, and faith. We talk about how communities grow from shared life, small risks, and the daily work of showing up.

Drawing from Anabaptist values and practices like mutuality, simplicity, and rootedness, we share practices and questions that can help us more from longing to living- cultivating spaces that reflect the heart of Jesus in tangible, local ways.

Many of us are living with a deep dissatisfaction – with organized religion as it’s been, with society as it is, and with the pace and patterns of life that leave us fragmented and exhausted.

Counter Presence: Dissatisfaction 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 teachings of Jesus, and formed through community, simplicity, mutuality, and hope – as exemplified by the Anabaptist tradition.

Not as an escape, but as a faithful way of being in the world, togehter.

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

This final episode invites us to move from longing to living — from imagining countercultural community to actually cultivating it. Here are some suggested resources  to help you dive deeper: