Some membership expectations are common to all DLSC members. Other expectations vary according to the level of an individual’s participation in the DLSC. All DLSC members are expected:
- To make a serious commitment to their own spiritual growth and engage in practices that foster that progression. The most highly recommended practice is to engage actively in the worship, service-providing, and other evangelical initiatives of one’s own denomination.
- To participate on a regular basis in the quarterly theological discussions organized by the DLSC for members able to attend.
- To prepare for those events by reading assigned articles, essays, or book chapters, and to join with other DLSC members in the selection of discussion topics and preparatory readings.
- To communicate one’s religious insights to others as opportunity, circumstances, and one’s own good judgment permit.
Members who opt for more extensive participation in the DLSC are also expected:
- To pursue an individually designed reading program in Holy Scripture, theology, and related studies.
- To acquaint themselves with the history, spirituality, and apostolic interests of the Dominican Family.
- To perform a brief morning and evening prayer. (Catholic, Orthodox, and Episcopal churches publish liturgical versions of the morning and evening prayers on the internet. Other Christian churches may do something similar.)
- To engage in a brief daily reflection on the religious significance and providential import of the day’s scholarly findings in their respective fields.
- To assist in the DLSC’s governance
Given a diversity of family obligations, professional duties, living arrangements, and other personal circumstances, most expectations are to be met on a schedule determined for oneself by each individual member.