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Listening carefully to the people you are called to serve is crucial.

• It's a mark of respect. It signifies that they matter to you. In our culture where many people are too busy to listen, listening is an act of love in itself.

• It enables you to draw close to the people concerned. If God confirms your call to work with them, you will be far more likely to 'get it right' because the initiative will come out of a deep understanding. Knowing people well could be indispensable in finding volunteers to help.

• It can lay foundations of trust. When people see that you listen and take notice, they will begin to trust you. Relationships of trust are essential if you are to encourage them to travel - if they wish - from loving service, to community, to discipleship, to church.

Research by is one of many approaches to listening in depth. It is undertaken by someone who belongs to the network or neighbourhood. He or she knows the people well, and describes their culture and the opportunities to you.

It is 'research by' because the research has been done implicitly by someone who lives in the culture, has gained understanding of it and can perhaps interpret it. 

You might talk to key people, such as:

• staff in the planning department (about future developments in the area),
• the head teacher,
• the health centre,
• the corner shop (what magazines do people read?),
• the police,
• the chair of the parish council or the residents' committee,
• the local councillor,
• the person who has lived longest in the area (perhaps they can give you some of the history)
• and others.

'Connectors' and 'networkers' will be especially important. 'Connectors' are people who connect you to a specific culture and introduce you to key contacts. They are equivalent to the 'people of peace' who hosted the 72 and presumably introduced them to other people, as the 72 spread the news about Jesus (Luke 10.5-7).

Or you may talk to 'networkers' among the people you could be called to serve. Like 'connectors' they will have lots of contacts, but in addition they will be people around whom others gather. They may include a hairdresser, someone with lots of friends, a health visitor or the organiser of a pre-school nursery. 

Networkers (in the sense we are using the term here) will do more than describe a network or neighbourhood and make introductions to it. They can play a key role in bringing people together. Cornelius was a good example. He called together his relatives and close friends to listen to Peter (Acts 10.24). Networkers have 'pulling power'.

Networkers played a big part in the spread of the early church, and could well be very important in the development of your plans. So involving them in the listening and preparation process obviously makes sense.

Connectors and networkers might be asked:

• 'What are people into?' 
• 'What do they want?' 
• 'Do our ideas for serving them make sense?'
• 'How else might we love them in a practical way?'
• 'What might they give to us?'
• 'What do they think about church, Christianity, spirituality?'

'Research by'' can be especially helpful if you are looking for a simple way in to exploring and listening.

Research with involves listening to a culture with the people who live in it. In concept, it is a big step on from 'research by'. It means developing relationships with those you may be called to serve, rather than relying on someone in the culture to interpret the neighbourhood or network to you. 

You will probably know already some people within the group you want to connect with. 'Research with' entails seeing if these relationships can become bridges to others in the neighbourhood or network who can contribute to your listening process.

'Research with' can be done informally, such as chatting with regulars in a pub or a group of friends. Or it can be more formal: 'We're thinking of starting a project among recent immigrants in the area. Would you be willing to meet regularly with us to advise us as the project develops?' 

Or: 'The health centre tells us that there is very little support locally for bereaved people. We are wondering if we might be able to help. Would you consider joining a group of bereaved people and health visitors to guide us as we explore the possibilities?' 

A networker might play a key role in drawing such a group together. Individuals might be invited to an informal and relaxed setting. They might be given something to eat and drink, and a warm welcome. Then they might be asked to tell you a little more about the wider community or the group you are interested in.

'Research with' moves away from a paternalistic approach ('Let's do something for this group') and encourages the creation of a partnership instead ('Can we work together on this?'). The network or neighbourhood becomes a stakeholder in the exploring process, making it more likely that the eventual vision will be owned and supported.

Research in is especially useful if you know very few people in a neighbourhood or network. It involves putting on some form of activity that will take you into the group you are trying to understand. It is about serving people by offering a meeting place or some practical help.

You might organise a BBQ for a block of flats, leaflet everyone and see who turns up. Or, if your team is large enough, you might organise a holiday club for children. On a smaller scale, you might simply invite all your neighbours in for mulled wine before Christmas.

The contacts you make through these activities may enable you to get right into the community. You will certainly have a much higher profile. But, more important, hopefully you will begin to get to know some people. As you build on these contacts, you will learn more about the people you may be called to serve.

Research on entails gathering general information that fills out the background picture. It might involve:

• Getting the latest census report from the library or internet. Information to look for includes population, age breakdown, social and ethnic mix and economic indicators.

• Walking the streets, praying as you go.  What are the significant buildings? What are the key meeting points – the school gate, the pub, the street corner where teenagers gather? You might plot them on a map. What are people doing at different times of the day?

• Conducting a questionnaire-based survey of people in the neighbourhood or network. Or you might stand on the street with a DVD camera and interview people who come past, asking them the questions you want to explore.

• Reading up on local history and broad cultural trends.

'Research on' is more detached and is less obviously relational than 'research by', 'research with' and 'research in'. But it is far from being non-relational. Relationships may start as you talk to key people, walk the street or ask passers-by to respond to a survey. Some of these relationships may be long-lasting and fruitful.

'Research on' can be immensely useful. It can fill out the picture you get from the other approaches, and increase your understanding of the context. If you are unsure about which people to serve, 'research on' may help to highlight the main opportunities and needs in the area.

If you were called to minister within a farming community, for example, you might learn about the work pressures on local farmers by reading the relevant trade magazines. If you were called to work with a community of asylum seekers from the Middle East, you might research their home culture and faith background.

'Research by', 'with', ' in' and 'on' can be done in any order, obviously, and indeed in parallel. It will yield information about:

• people's physical environment - eg what facilities are available? Is the area clean and orderly?
• their social relationships - eg who connects with whom? Where do people meet? How do they spend time with each other?
• their spiritual outlook - eg what spiritual experiences have they had?

You won't want to do everything that's been described, but be prayerfully selective according to your resources and the local context.

Exploring the possibilities

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