It was recurring testimonials from some of those people that prompted Tim, Steve and Janice—now all living near Dallas, Texas—to get back together as a group.  Tim says, “Everywhere we went, month after month, we had people come up to us and tell us how the Archers and the Archers’ music had made a difference in their lives.”

To say the Archers disbanded back in ’84 doesn’t mean that stopped singing together.  The three still did a few concerts together each year, but there were no big tours or new album releases.  Each of them had other things going on, including the building of careers, marriages and families.  Steve launched out on a solo career with several powerful hits on his own, keeping the Archer name before the contemporary Christian music audience.  Tim worked to help budding Christian musicians and produce their recordings.  Janice and her husband, John Cruse, of another famous singing family, produced a family of their own.  Janice recalls days of “triumph, trauma, and trials” for them; their first of three children in four years were extremely premature twins who miraculously survived against incredible odds.

Tim, Steve and Janice say that as their families grew, each of them grew individually as well.  The recording hiatus was a valuable time of maturing, of coming down out of youthful clouds of irresponsibility, and of planting their feet squarely in the real world.  It was a time in which the Christians recording industry was maturing as well.  And it was an essential period of spiritual enrichment and a broadening of their vision.  Those factors, plus some words of wisdom from their pastor Larry Lea, pointed them in the direction of getting back together as a music group and music ministry.

“We missed each other,” says Janice, “and we came to the conclusion that we’re the strongest in our talent when we unite it together.”  The product of this musical reunion (appropriately released on the Reunion label) is a bright, melodic pop album, Colors of Your Love.  It is well produced by yet another contemporary Christian music veteran, Jonathan David Brown.

“We’ve brought The Archers into the ‘90s” explains Tim.  “We’re a more mature group, more seasoned, a bit more focused in every area, and a bit more serious about what we have to say this time around.”

“This new album,” Steve adds, “is the closet we’ve ever come to what we feel is the true Archers sound—a lot of blended harmonies, with all of us sharing leads.  The messages are pretty much up front—this is what we’ve been through, this is what we believe.”

The Archers feel they are prepared and spiritually armed to their new mission.  They want to see the songs on Colors of Your Love encourage, inspire and motivate Christians and non-Christians of all ages.  “I would like to know,” Tim adds, “that by what we are doing and saying, we will inspire somebody else to get up and do something.  And we want to do it with the Gospel, because there’s no greater motivation than the message of Christ and what He did for us, and what He continues to do!  We want to be able to give someone else hope!”