The Women Who Loved Jesus: The Untold Story of the Women's Evangelistic Corps

By Donna D'Ingillo

An astounding new claim about Jesus was first made in 1955: that he had commissioned twelve female apostles. Its source was The Urantia Book. Now, a newer source builds on that revelation, unveiling each one of the inspiring stories of these courageous women apostles.

Our world is ready for the untold stories of the twelve female apostles commissioned by Jesus. The Bible mentions only a few of these women, but never refers to them as apostles. Only in 1955 was the role of these female counterparts to the male apostles revealed in The Urantia Book, a profound modern text that has gone on to sell over a million copies worldwide. This detailed new account corrects and supplements the New Testament's record for our global era. It stuns readers by explaining how Jesus’s attitude toward women was “the most astonishing and the most revolutionary feature of [his] mission on earth,” leading him to break with Hebrew tradition by appointing a women corps. Now, many decades later, we’ve been gifted with an even more expanded account of Jesus’s work with his most devoted female followers. The Women Who Loved Jesus shares inspiring new details of this long-suppressed story thanks to the eye-witness narrations provided by each of his dozen female apostles. Each woman steps forward to tell her story of how Jesus preached their spiritual equality with men, transformed their personal lives, and ordained them as a teachers and ministers of the gospel. For the first time, we see Jesus through the eyes of his most fervent women followers, and we also learn how their ministry—designed to be complemental to that of the male apostles—focused on creating a social network of healing and compassion. The task of the female apostolic corps was to create an environment for teaching and for healing at all levels through a variety of techniques Jesus personally supervised. Read this book to discover how these women laid the spiritual, energetic, and social foundation for the Christian church. Their messages to us are both universal and timely, as women all over the world are finally taking their rightful place as ministers, healers, and religious teachers.  

• Language: English
• Publisher: Celestia
• Release date: Sep 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9781579830632

Donna D'Ingillo

Donna D'Ingillo is the founder of the Center for Christ Consciousness and is a lifelong student of The Urantia Book. In addition to extensive healing and counseling work with individuals, she also conducts workshops and seminars nationwide. She lives in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

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AUTHOR’S PREFACE

The four gospels in the New Testament narrate the basic story of Jesus’ life, but they tell us little about his relationships with the women who followed him. These accounts briefly mention that Jesus had devoted female followers who stood by him to the end, including Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna. But we know even less about the role of his female followers after his departure. Paul’s letter to the Romans (see Rom 16:1) briefly states that certain women had become ministers known as deaconesses, and historians tell us this practice continued for centuries.

But very much remains a mystery. Exactly how did Jesus regard the role of women in his ministry and in the church? Did he assign specific tasks to them? Which women, other than those fleetingly noted in the Bible, were closest to Jesus? Which ones became leaders in the gospel movement after his ascension?

The Urantia Book, a profound modern revelation first published in 1955, has revealed for the first time the startling fact that Jesus commissioned a set of twelve female apostles. It also tells us extraordinary things about how Jesus regarded women’s roles in society and in his ministry.

And now, seemingly in response to questions in the hearts of students of The Urantia Book, a much more detailed account can be provided about the twelve women Jesus appointed to his Women’s Evangelistic Corps. According to the stories these women share in this book, their ministry especially focused on creating the social network of love and compassion that later evolved into the Christian church. In fact, when you read each woman’s chapter, you will discover how their efforts became a crucial part of the new movement of believers in Jesus.

Theirs is a unique story, almost completely lost from history. In their eyewitness accounts of the dramatic events of those times, these unique women share how meeting Jesus changed their lives forever. And we discover how, as a result of this inner transformation, their devotion to loving and healing humanity became the driving motivation for their ministries during and after his departure.

Introducing the Twelve Female Apostles of Jesus

It is my hope you find that these women’s messages speak to your heart and soul. You will learn that Jesus not only fostered profound spiritual healing and growth in each of them, but also that he liberated all women, for all time, to their rightful place as equals with men.

Jesus taught that women are equal in spiritual receptivity and in their ability to grow in God-consciousness. In this book, you will discover how—from the very beginning—women were regarded as on par with men both as ministers of Jesus’ love and in the sacred work of spreading his gospel to the world.

As we all know, there is no hint in the New Testament of the central message of this book—the story of how Jesus ordained an evangelistic corps of women apostles to minister to women, children, the sick, and the aged. No mention is made of the twelve courageous women he trained and empowered to help create communities of worship, healing, and fellowship. Very little is even recorded in the Urantia Revelation itself of how central these women were in helping people receive Jesus’ love for humanity, and how their ministrations led to the development of the early church.

But now this omission is coming to an end.

Until recently, women in general have been consigned to obscurity within the annals of history. Fortunately, today’s worldwide movement to empower women has resurrected facts about the roles women have played throughout the general course of human evolution and in the religions of the world. This account of the Women’s Evangelistic Corps is another example of such a story that has been recovered from obscurity. We can now trace how a group of women commissioned by Jesus to be his female apostles played a fundamental part in the establishment of his teaching and healing ministry. Their efforts were complemental to the work of the twelve male apostles, and together these courageous missionaries created a movement that became the world’s largest religion.

The Urantia Book and the Women’s Evangelistic Corps

I was first exposed to this exceptional group of twelve women through my study of the very lengthy Part IV of The Urantia Book, The Life and Teachings of Jesus. The women’s story can especially be found in Paper 150, The Third Preaching Tour. This inspiring material provides a brief account of how Jesus first commissioned ten women as apostles, later adding two more. It describes who they were, why he ordained them, and some of the work they did based on Jesus’ teachings. Here’s a key part of that story as narrated in the Urantia text:

Of all the daring things which Jesus did in connection with his earth career, the most amazing was his sudden announcement on the evening of January 16: On the morrow we will set apart ten women for the ministering work of the kingdom.. . . It was most astounding in that day, when women were not even allowed on the main floor of the synagogue (being confined to the women’s gallery), to behold them being recognized as authorized teachers of the new gospel of the kingdom. The charge which Jesus gave these ten women as he set them apart for gospel teaching and ministry was the emancipation proclamation which set free all women and for all time; no more was man to look upon woman as his spiritual inferior. This was a decided shock to even the twelve apostles. . . .The whole country was stirred up by this proceeding, the enemies of Jesus making great capital out of this move, but everywhere the women believers in the good news stood staunchly behind their chosen sisters and voiced no uncertain approval of this tardy acknowledgment of woman’s place in religious work. (150:1.1-3)

These are the women identified in the Urantia text: Susanna, the daughter of the former chazan of the Nazareth synagogue; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, the steward of Herod Antipas; Elizabeth, the daughter of a wealthy Jew of Tiberias and Sepphoris; Martha, the elder sister of Andrew and Peter; Rachel, the sister-in-law of Jude, the Master’s brother in the flesh; Nasanta, the daughter of Elman, a Syrian physician; Milcha, a cousin of the Apostle Thomas; Ruth, the eldest daughter of Matthew Levi; Celta, the daughter of a Roman centurion; and Agaman, a widow of Damascus. Subsequently, Jesus added two other women to this group—Mary Magdalene and Rebecca, the daughter of Joseph of Arimathea.

I was very moved when I learned from The Urantia Book that Jesus always regarded women as equal with men, and that he was disturbed by the marginalization of women in Jewish culture. Jesus fully understood the role of women in building a healthy and spiritually enlightened society. In commissioning women to the elevated position of female apostles, he sent a very powerful message to humanity that women enjoy the same status before God as men. Unfortunately, the original male apostles—and especially St. Paul—failed to ensure that subsequent generations would maintain this practice. As the church grew in the early centuries, the facts about these women’s early roles were obscured in the written accounts or else entirely lost. Here’s how The Urantia Book puts it:

This liberation of women, giving them due recognition, was practiced by the apostles immediately after the Master’s departure, albeit they fell back to the olden customs in subsequent generations. Throughout the early days of the Christian church women teachers and ministers were called deaconesses and were accorded general recognition. But Paul, despite the fact that he conceded all this in theory, never really incorporated it into his own attitude and personally found it difficult to carry out in practice. (150:1.3)

Since the publication of The Urantia Book, this incredible information has fostered a keen interest in these special women. And today, women are finally taking their rightful place in religious work all over the planet. I believe we have earned these updated accounts, narrated in their own voices by the very first women apostles.

The Twelve Tell Their Story

This book is the result of my own contacts with each of the twelve women over many years. We are publishing it now because they want their stories to be known to the world. They have observed how modern changes within Christianity are finally bringing about more parity in gender roles. They are releasing their stories now because this long-awaited transformation has prepared the church to receive this lost knowledge. The Twelve, as I often call them, are in a better position than ever to set the record straight about Jesus’ historic relationship with his leading female followers, as well as their relationship with the male apostles and the early church.

It does happen that I am the conduit for this information. But this book is about something far bigger than my role. Please set that aside and instead focus on the content and plausibility of these stories. As you read each unique chapter, you will increasingly learn that this book is about the healing of our world. It also points to you, dear reader, and how you can play a role in this mission. In addition, it’s about today’s global movement for empowering women’s roles as leaders in all sectors of society, especially in religion.

With regard to the future role of women in religion, this book offers a call to women everywhere to take on the helm of spiritual healing and all other forms of ministry for our world. Each of the Twelve were healers or teachers of some kind, and today you and I can follow in their footsteps, each in our own way—along with support from our male colleagues.

For those of you with leadership skills, one way to answer this call is to create your own Corps of like-hearted and like-minded sisters to uplift humanity, which is something the Twelve have inspired me to do. See the epilogue to learn more about that option for those who are ready to take up the religious challenges of our time.

In conclusion, Jesus’ teaching and healing ministry was not just for his day—it is timeless and universal. The women's stories speak of human needs in their day that are similar to those faced today. But I believe these needs are now even more pressing than in the time of Jesus. For the sake of our survival, we must remember that we are sons and daughters of loving Creators and recognize the worthiness of our human nature. Just as in the ancient past, Jesus still heals our inner wounds and sets us on a course of spiritual living so that our God-given potentials can thrive.

May the words of these twelve women touch your heart, stimulate your mind, and awaken your soul. These twelve women shaped history behind the scenes. It is time for their stories, once lost to the world, to uplift all modern men and women. May these stories inspire us to expand our personal relationship with Jesus and lead us to be healed, just as it happened to The Women Who Loved Jesus.

Donna D’Ingillo

Delray Beach, Florida

May 20, 2023

THE WOMEN’S INTRODUCTION

Jesus brought each of us into life, strange as this may sound. The Master was the living embodiment of abundant life. He radiated a magnetic drawing power that was always renewing and refreshing and full of joy and meaning. He generously shared these and many more lovely qualities with us, and we now reveal our experiences with him by sharing our stories as members of the Women’s Evangelistic Corps.

Jesus liberated us from a tightly controlled religious environment. Before we met him, we did not even know we were so highly regimented in our daily activities. And it is unfortunate that this condition still exists for many women on your planet.

As you read our stories, you will learn what occurred in our initial encounters with Jesus, how he mightily drew us to him by the truths he spoke and because of his loving heart. He made us feel that we are worthy as individuals and as daughters of God. Jesus was able to look behind the influence of our culture and see into our souls, sparking in each of us an inner recognition of who we truly are. We now felt empowered to live up to the potential God had placed in us as his daughters. To imagine that we would not want to learn and be around this man was inconceivable to us. Over time it became clear that we would willingly devote our entire lives to him and his living gospel.

Our account focuses more on our spiritual experiences with Jesus and our collective ministrations to his followers rather than on the material aspects of our activities. This more religious focus is