Rev. Dr Grace Sintim Adasi, a Minister of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and Senior Research Fellow at the College of Humanities, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, has emerged as the overall winner of the highly competitive 2026 International Centre for the Sociology of Religion (ICSOR) Grant Award.
In a remarkable academic feat, she topped the global competition with a perfect score of 10 points, according to results released on May 24, 2026, by the International Centre for the Sociology of Religion (ICSOR).
Her groundbreaking research project titled “Digital Pulpits: Ghanaian Women as Online Evangelists and Faith Influencers” explores how social media is transforming Christian ministry, theology, morality, and religious engagement in the digital age.
PROFILE
Rev. Dr. Grace Sintim Adasi, a Presbyterian minister and distinguished scholar, currently serves as a Senior Research Fellow with the Religions and Philosophy Section of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon.
She holds an MPhil in African Studies and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in the Study of Religions, both from the University of Ghana, Legon. She also earned a Master of Arts (MA) in Educational Leadership and Management and an MPhil in Educational Innovation and Leadership Science.
Rev. Dr. Grace Sintim Adasi has published extensively in several respected academic journals across the world and is the author of the influential book, Gender and Change: Roles and Challenges of Ordained Women Ministers in the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.
Over the years, she has received numerous international research grants and has travelled widely across the globe to present her scholarly works and research findings.
Her research interests span Mission and African Christianity, Christianity and Society, Spirituality, Culture, Gender, Indigenous Religions, and Women’s Empowerment. She has also conducted extensive studies on women’s leadership roles in the Church, priestesses, shrines, and sacred spaces within African Indigenous Religions.
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
PhD – University of Ghana, Legon (2012)
Study of Religions
Thesis: Ordained Women Ministers in the Presbyterian Church of Ghana: Roles and Challenges.
MPhil – Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (2023)
Educational Innovation and Leadership Science
MPhil – University of Ghana, Legon (2000)
African Studies
Thesis: The Proliferation of Prayer Camps in the Church of Pentecost: The Case of the Salvation Prayer Camp.
M.A. – University of Ghana, Legon (2021)
Educational Leadership and Management
B.A. (Hons.) – University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana (1994)
English and Religious Studies
Thesis: The Presentation of Women Characters in Ousmane Sembène’s God’s Bits of Wood.
Diploma in Education – University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana (1994)
Certificate in Ministry – Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Ramseyer Training Centre (2010)
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Mission and African Christianity
- Religion, culture, and society
- Gender and women’s leadership in religion
- Indigenous African religions and spirituality
- Digital religion and neo-prophetic movements
- Education, social mobility, and theology
CURRENT RESEARCH AREAS
- Gender and Christianity in Africa
- African Christianity and mission studies
- Religion, culture, and spirituality
- Women, education, and social transformation
- Digital religion and social media theology
SELECTED PROJECTS
Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR) Research Proposals Award 2025
- Gender, Authority, and Media: Prophetess Leadership in Ghanaian Christianity
- Religious Syncretism and Social Cohesion in Ghana
- Pentecostalism and Traditional Authority in Ghana (SSSR)
- Faith-based Responses to Illegal Mining (Galamsey) in Ghana — Chapter 13: Circle of Concern Women Theologians Project
International Centre for the Sociology of Religion (ICSOR) Grant Award 2026
- Digital Pulpits: Women as Online Evangelists in Ghana
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Book
Adasi, G. S. (2016). Gender and Change: Roles and Challenges of Ordained Women Ministers in the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. GAVOSS Education Plc. Ltd.
Encyclopedia Contribution
Adasi, G. S. (2018). Last Supper. In Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception (EBR), Vol. 16: Lectionary–Lots. De Gruyter.
PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES
Adasi, G. S. (2026). Faith, gender and migration in conflict-affected Ghana: A phenomenological study of lived experiences in a polarized society. Manuscript accepted for publication in the Journal of Religion in Africa.
Adasi, G. S. (2026). Jesus Christ, the Christian woman’s foundation and focus. Manuscript accepted for publication. Penn State University Press.
Adasi, G. S. (2026). Performing hospitality: The mission house as a lived space of African Christian practice in Ghana. Manuscript accepted for publication in Journal of Performing Arts, 5(5).
Adasi, G. S., Adu-Bempah, B., & Ntewusu, S. (2026). Land governance: A historical and religious analysis of German and British maps in Ghana. Manuscript accepted for publication in Kebbi Journal of Humanities, 2(1).
Ntewusu, S., Adasi, G. S., Amoako, E., Wovenu, E., & Yeboah, F. (2026). The life and times of ‘The Iron Lady’: Honourable Hawa Yakubu, MP Bawku Central, Upper East Region of Ghana. Manuscript accepted for publication. Digibooks Ltd.
Ntewusu, S., Ntewusu, D., & Adasi, G. S. (2026). In search of balance: Reading the Nokra text/symbol of the Nawuris of Ghana. Basel Anthropology Papers (BAP), 3, 141–143.
Adasi, G. S. (2025). The social consequences of religious communication in Ghana’s digital space. Trinity Journal of Church and Theology, 23(1), 54–80.
Adasi, G. S. (2025). Women, migration, religion and education: A case study of Agogo Presbyterian College of Education. E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies (ERATS), 11(4), 152–162.
Adasi, G. S., & Ansah, M. A. (2025). The quandary of church interpreters in Ghana: Conduit or interventionist. E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 6(6), 740–751.
Adasi, G. S., & Fusheini, S. (2025). Maternal imagery in biblical translation: A comparative analysis of divine nurturing metaphors across indigenous languages in Ghana. Journal of Mother-Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics and Theology (MOTBIT), 7(4), 91–100.
Adasi, G. S., & Fusheini, S. (2025). Sacred stewardship and divine ecology: Religious dimensions and indigenous knowledge systems in building climate resilience in Ghana. International Journal of Intercultural Values and Indigenous Ecoethics, 5(3), 1–11.
Adasi, G. S., Fusheini, S., & Amuzu, F. (2025). Digital dissemination of neo-prophetic theologies in Ghana: Societal impact and challenges in the age of social media. E-Journal of Religion and Theological Studies (ERATS), 11(6), 279–292.
Adasi, G. S., Fusheini, S., & Brobbey, C. A. B. (2025). Dynamics and trajectories of religious politics and socio-economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa: A case of Ghana. Journal of Applied Science, Arts and Business (JASAB), 1(1), 1–20.
Adjei-Boateng, E., Amponsah, K. D., Adasi, G. S., Okrah, A. K., Clottey, E. A., Donkor, S. K., & Abban, H. A. (2025). Disentangling the pressure: A quantitative examination of stressors confronting distance education students within a Ghanaian university context. IFE PsychologIA, 33(1), 41–55.
Dseagu, P. A., Adjei-Boateng, E., Adasi, G. S., Commey-Mintah, P., Mahama, N., Essiam, J. O., Avoke, M., & Okrah, A. K. (2025). Examining the perceived effectiveness of teachers and their preparedness in teaching students with autism in mainstream schools in Ghana. African Journal of Social Issues, 8(1), 129–144.
Dseagu, P. A., Adjei-Boateng, E., Adasi, G. S., Essiam, J. O., Commey-Mintah, P., Mahama, N., Teye, E. Q., Ofori-Atta, C. A. A., & Okrah, A. K. (2025). Examining sibling dynamics in Ghanaian families affected by autism: A qualitative investigation in Accra, Ghana. African Journal of Empirical Research, 6(1), 560–568.
Frimpong, E. J., Adasi, G. S., & Kuwornu-Adjattor, J. E. T. (2025). Balancing faith and work: Reexamining the prosperity gospel in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity for poverty reduction and combating religious laziness. London Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Science (LJRHSS), 25(11), 19–25.
Amponsah, K. D., Adjei-Boateng, E., Salifu, I., Awonyi, F. C., Commey-Mintah, P., & Adasi, G. S. (2024). Examining the influence of key demographic variables by program at a university in Ghana. Journal of Curriculum and Teaching, 13(4), 22–35.
Ntewusu, S., Awubomu, R., Kuwor, S., & Adasi, G. S. (2023). The role and transmission of performing arts among the Nawuri of Ghana: Insights from Okule. In S. K. Kuwor & C. Andrews (Eds.), The Role and Transmission of Performing Arts in Rural Ghana (pp. 212–224).
Adasi, G. S. (2021). The Ghanaian PCG tent women clergy as revolutionaries. Black Women and Religious Cultures, 2(1), 1–17.
Adasi, G. S. (2021). What does it mean to be a traditional priestess? Interrogating women’s engagement with the divine. In Recovering the African Feminine Divine in Literature, the Arts, and Performing Arts: Yemonja Awakening.
Owusu, D., Nkyi, A. A., & Adasi, G. S. (2021). Prevalent rate of occupational stress among senior high school teachers. Journal of Scientific Research & Reports, 27(11), 163–173.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
- Board Member, Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT)
- Member, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR)
- Member, African Association for the Study of Religions (AASR)
- Member, American Academy of Religion (AAR)
- Member of several University of Ghana and Accra Technical University committees
- Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians
BOARD MEMBERSHIP AND COMMITTEES
- Member, Committee on Ministry: Training and Scholarship, Department of Church Life and Nurture, Presbyterian Church of Ghana (August 2023 – Date).
- Member, UDS Search Committee for Vice Chancellor (2022).
- Member, IAS Financial Management Team (2019 – 2020).
- Board of Directors, Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT) (2018 – Date).
- Chair, IAS Institutional Vetting Committee for Collaboration (2019 – 2020).
- Chair, IAS Ad Hoc Committee on Book Launch (February 2019).
- Chair, IAS University of Ghana 70th Anniversary Ad Hoc Planning Committee (2018).
- Steering Committee Member, ASAA Conference (2017).
- Steering Committee Member, AASR Conference (2016).
- Steering Committee Member, African and African Diasporan Women in Religion and Theology Conference (2014).
- Member, IAS Graduate Committee (2019 – 2020).
- Member, IAS Management Committee (September 2018 – 2020).
- Member, IAS Publications Committee (September 2018 – 2020).
- Member, IAS Academic Resources Committee (September 2018 – 2020).
- Member, IAS Publicity Committee (September 2018).
- Member, IAS–GBC Collaborative Committee (2018 – 2020).
TEACHING
Rev. Dr. Grace Sintim Adasi teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses, including:
- Traditional Religions in Africa
- Introduction to Islam and Christianity in Africa
- Religion and Politics
- Culture and Development
Her latest international recognition further cements her status as one of Ghana’s leading scholars in religion, gender studies, African Christianity, and digital theology, while placing Ghana firmly on the global academic map.
