Throughout its history, evangelicalism has neglected to consider the spiritual lives of people with profound intellectual disabilities and how their experiences might contribute to a fuller understanding of what it means to follow Jesus. Both the historic and modern constructions of evangelical discipleship have led to particular ministry strategies and practices that rarely consider the presence of people with profound intellectual disabilities.

In Held in the Love of God, Phil Letizia attends to this oversight in the discipleship of the evangelical church by investigating the historical development of evangelicalism and its particular characteristics that, as he argues, make it difficult for the intellectually disabled to be perceived as followers of Jesus. Letizia draws upon a rich cross section of research, stories and firsthand accounts from families of disability, and works from evangelicalism and disability theologians to raise questions requiring reflection on the part of evangelicals. The methods used strive to uncover stories of disability and discipleship while also examining the most common context for evangelical discipleship, the local church.

Employing thoughtful theological reflection, Letizia argues for a broader theology of discipleship within popular evangelicalism that includes the spiritual lives of people with profound intellectual disabilities. This can only be achieved through embracing renewed emphasis on a theology of the cross to address hardship and suffering and the conviction that we are held in the trustful love of God that seals our eternal purpose in the divine kingdom. Held in the Love of God explores the contours of evangelical discipleship in a way that provokes deep theological inquiry, while also leading local congregations, pastors, and lay leaders to consider the implications for ministry within the body of Christ.

In Held in the Love of God, Phil Letizia joins a growing field of disability theologians integrating qualitative research methods into their theology to explore the spiritual lives of people with intellectual disabilities. In this important and novel study, Letizia helps to broaden the theology of discipleship by carefully interweaving pastoral and caretaker narratives as well as field observations into a practical theology for the evangelical church. All too often people with profound intellectual disabilities are valued as objects of care for nondisabled Christians. In a tradition that values words, intellect, and reason, it can be difficult to understand intellectually disabled people as followers of Christ. By broadening the evangelical understandings of discipleship to include people with profound intellectual disabilities, Letizia puts forth a theology that allows all people to become followers of Christ. The result is an expansive vision of discipleship that includes people with disabilities that enriches the entire body of Christ.

~Devan Stahl, Associate Professor of Bioethics and Religion, Baylor University

With an evangelical commitment to renewal, Phil Letizia convincingly argues for a theology of discipleship rooted in the trustful love of God and robustly inclusive of those with profound disabilities. Letizia’s work, creatively drawing on theological qualitative research with clergy and lay partners, expands a faithful vision of discipleship for all God’s people. Letizia’s text offers a pathway on which we might more fully recognize disciples of Jesus, stirring up hope for disabled disciples, their loved ones, and indeed, all those seeking to follow Jesus.

~Sarah Jean Barton, Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy and Theological Ethics, Duke University

Held in the Love of God explores discipleship in evangelical church contexts not just from a generic disability set of perspectives but foregrounding the familial and ecclesial experiences with people with profound intellectual and related impairments. Letizia's practical theological method resounds the voices of parents, caregivers, siblings, other family members, and pastors of people with profound disabilities and their families, all of whose reflections illuminate the depth, richness, and expansiveness of divine love that holds individuals, their families, and their church communities together in lives of faithfulness to and enabled by God. Evangelical pastors, leaders, and theologians ought to attend to this volume, both for what it has to say about its focused topic and also because of the broader theological implications for discipleship and Christian beliefs embedded therein.

~Amos Yong, Professor of Theology & Mission, Fuller Seminary

Introduction: The Driveway and a New World
1 Tracing an Evangelical Theology of Discipleship
2 The Recognition of a Disciple
3 The Recognition of the Body of Christ
4 Life as a Disciple of Jesus, Part 1: Journey, Suffering, and Lament
5 Life as a Disciple of Jesus, Part 2: Purpose and Glory
6 Held in the Adoptive Love of God
7 Finding Purpose in the Love of God
Epilogue