Meet Miami-based Artists Adore Praise & Worship
Adore Praise & Worship is a musical group made up of siblings Melissa, Ashley, Michelle and Franky Anduiza. In October 2023, the group released its debut EP, Savior, available on all major platforms. You can learn more about Adore Praise & Worship on its site and Instagram.
CATHOLIC ARTIST CONNECTION: Where are you from originally, and what brought you to your current city?
ADORE PRAISE & WORSHIP: We are all from Miami, Florida—born and raised. However we all went to college and worked for a while in various locations like Tampa, Tallahassee, New York and California. We moved back home to Miami about six years ago to reunite with our family.
How do understand your vocations as Catholic artists?
Our mission is to point others towards God with our music. In all we do, our prayer is asking the Holy Spirit to take over and use us for the good work of God. We also want to help others reach a place of peace, joy, hope, and strength in Christ. Yes, we do call ourselves Catholic artists because we know that our artistic and creative abilities, passion and talents are gifts from God and we feel called to use them for His glory and serve others. We also have tons of fun doing so!
Where have you found support in the Church for your vocation as an artist?
We've found support from our amazing parents who have always loved and guided us to stay close to Jesus and Mary in all we do. We've also found support from our parishes priests, ministry leaders and community allowing us to flourish as musicians, participate in community events and supporting us in our own ministry initiatives.
How can the artistic world be more welcoming to artists of faith?
The artistic world can be more welcoming by recognizing that we "artists of faith" are simply individuals that possess the artistic gifts meant to be shared for the greater good.
Where in your city do you regularly find spiritual fulfillment?
We regularly find spiritual fulfillment by going to Holy Adoration at our parishes. These parishes are here in Miami. They are Saint Louis, Our Lady of Lourdes, and Saint Thomas the Apostle Catholic Churches—all with a beautiful community and wonderful ministries of all kinds. We would recommend others to come attend a community night of adoration/praise and worship we lead every other month called “Adore Night.” We also recommend others to attend/get involved with Emmaus Retreat/Ministry, a beautiful weekend to encounter Christ with fellow men or women…and Life in the Spirit, an awesome charismatic Catholic retreat/ministry. These all have the potential to be life-changing.
How have you found or built community as a Catholic artist in your city?
About two years ago, we were looking for events where we could just soak in praise and worship music and spend time with God in prayerful music amongst others who also connect with God through music…but we couldn't find anything like this. So we decided to do it ourselves and started a night of Adoration/praise and worship that we host every other month for the community called “Adore Night.” “Adore Night” has slowly grown over the months, forming a small community of people of all ages who love praise and worship music and are seeking a deeper relationship with Christ. It has fostered new friendships and relationships as well as inspired other related events in the church.
Describe a recent day in which you were most completely living out your vocation as an artist.
We recently lead praise and worship at a Charismatic Catholic Day of Renewal in which the Archdiocese of Miami hosted a day retreat for parishes around the diocese to gather, reflect, and discuss the state of the Charismatic Catholic Ministries in the diocese. It was heavenly...We were all fully possessed by the Holy Spirit, along with everyone in that auditorium, singing our hearts out, full of joy, freedom and surrender, leaving the weight of our trials and storms to the care of Father. We went deeper into prayer song after song and recognized the peace God was delivering to everyone in those moments of worship. We usually “debrief” amongst ourselves after each time we play, and during this debrief we all agreed that the Holy Spirit took over in a different way this time as we all got lost in the music, prayer and presence of God!
How do you market your art and/or build a professional network as an artist?
We are big on using social media to connect with our community and market our music and services. Through posting content on our Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube pages, we've reached many people and have a solid digital presence. We also use social media to network, promote events, share exciting news/event highlights, help spread the word for other Catholic artists/ministries and inspire others with faith-based quotes, images and graphics.
What are your top 3 pieces of advice for Catholic artists post-graduation?
1. Get involved with a solid ministry at your parish or start your own ministry doing what you love! Develop a few solid relationships, friendships and serve with fellow Catholics.
2. Stay connected with God and develop your relationship with Jesus every single day. Being an artist is hard, being a Catholic artist is even harder. Developing your relationship with Christ is the most important thing you can ever do, and all the fruits of your artistic journey depend on your walk with Him.
3. Have fun! Be creative, stay inspired and trust your gut. There will be haters, and people who don't support you or your art...they don't matter. Put God above all and He will take care of the rest. You'll have good days and bad days, don't let the bad days take you off your path, lean into God in those tough moments and know He is with you and good days are ahead.