1968–1984
1968
Financial pressures to meet payroll and expenses are extreme. Hopes for funding rest on a proposal submitted to the National Institute of Mental Health for the Clergy-Youth Counseling Project. The proposal is approved, with funding to begin April 1, 1969.
CYR receives an invitation from Notre Dame to develop a research center in religious education.
1969
The funds from the National Institute of Mental Health are delayed; CYR borrows money from the bank to stay afloat.
CYR moves beyond the Lutheran church for board members and welcomes two businessmen, George Dayton and Herbert Bissell. To reflect the change, CYR becomes Youth Research Center (YRC).
The Youth Forum Series has now sold 200,000 copies.
The year ends on a high note with four grants bringing in $500,000. Three additional grants are awarded, and five new staff members are hired.
1970
A Study of Generations, funded by Lutheran Brotherhood, begins with seminarians traveling to 320 congregations to collect data.
Staff increases to 18.
Six new titles are added to the Youth Forum Series.
1971
Research on Religious Development: A Comprehensive Handbook is published; it is monumental because it brings together for the first time the results of 75 years of research in religion.
1972
A Study of Generations is published; called an “assured classic” by Time magazine.
1973
Three paperbacks are published, based on information from A Study of Generations.
Lutheran Brotherhood increases the length of its computer grants from two years to five years.
1974
Five Cries of Youth is published; it is significant because it presents data that refutes the position of national youth leaders who have bought in to Margaret Mead’s thesis of a “generation gap.”
Two major projects are under way: Readiness for Ministry for the Association of Theological Schools, funded by Lilly Endowment; and the Lutheran Seminarian project, a parallel study on ministry. A third study, of the 18 colleges of the Lutheran Church in America (LCA), is launched.
1975
Reaffirmation of mission: knowledge base gained through research; linking research to practice.
Youth Survey is modified to a shorter version called Becoming the Gift.
1976
Readiness for Ministry project is successfully completed. Lilly Endowment awards additional funds to introduce the program to Association of Theological Schools seminaries over a six-year period.
National Institute of Mental Health awards grant for three-year study, Effecting Utilization: Experimental Use of Consultants.
1977
The continued broadening of YRC’s mission leads to a name change: Search Institute.
Approval is granted for a study of the beliefs and values of members of Congress, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Two studies are completed: the LCA college study and the Lutheran Seminarian Project.
1978
Search Institute celebrates its 20th anniversary.
Merton Strommen announces his intent to retire as president in mid-1984; sets goals to establish Search Institute as an institution with a secure future and distinctive mission.
Peter Benson joins the staff as a research scientist; leads study of beliefs and values of members of Congress.
1979
Ten Faces of Ministry, based on a survey of 5,000 Lutherans, is published.
1980
Ministry in America, based on a survey of 47 denominations, is released; reviewed in Time magazine.
Final report on the study of 18 LCA colleges is published.
1981
Lilly Endowment awards grant of $273,000 for the Study of Early Adolescents and Their Parents.
Peter Benson carries out the study Religion on Capitol Hill, which receives excellent coverage in Psychology Today.
1982
Religion on Capitol Hill: Myths and Realities is published.
1983
Search Institute celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Peter Benson becomes director of research.
Findings from the Study of Early Adolescents and Their Parents are presented at the Early Adolescence Invitational Conference in Nashville.
Merton Strommen is awarded Fellow status in the American Psychological Association, following his selection to receive the William James Award for career achievements in the psychology of religion.
Between 1983 and 1990, Search Institute conducts several national studies for the National Catholic Educational Association; this leads to publication of several reports that influence educational policy, teacher training, and staff development in Catholic schools.
Planned change process called Vision-to-Action is developed by Shelby Andress and Merton Strommen.
1984
Partnership with WQED, a public television station in Pittsburgh, results in the public television program Chemical People, which rallies people across the country in a fight against drug abuse.
Search Institute launches a five-year human sexuality project, titled Values and Choices, under the direction of John Forliti. The Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs is the project funder; Vesper Society awards funds to develop video and curriculum materials.
Merton Strommen attends a reception at the White House with First Lady Nancy Reagan.
Merton Strommen retires as president.
