‘Their Children Might be Christians’

Abstract This article examines the ritual specialists and initiates of the three Adzima shrines in the southeastern Volta Region of Ghana and their criticism of Christianity, particularly Neo-Pentecostalist discourse that encourages adherents to sever lineage-based ties to deities and ancestors. The influence of Christianity is an issue that the Adzima shrine ritual specialists deal with on a regular basis since different types of people are drawn into hierarchical relationships with the Adzima deities through the fiasidiwo initiates. The Adzima ritual specialists have to manage shifting perspectives on the appropriate relationship between persons embedded in lineage structures and with deities, which could undermine the meanings attributed to the fiasidiwo and potentially threaten the initiates’ livelihoods.