Mission (station)

A religious mission or mission station is a location for missionary work.

Christianity

Historically, missions have been religious communities used to convert local populations to Christianity. Missions often provided the logistics and supplies needed to support that work, as well as a way to "civilize" recently Christianized indigenous peoples through cultural assimilation and Westernization.

Catholicism's support for the Spanish missions in the Americas played a key role in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Catholic mission communities commonly consisted of churches, gardens, fields, barns, workrooms, dormitories, and schools. They were often located based on the availability of a good water supply to support the local population.

While primarily a Christian term, the concept of the religious "mission" is also used prominently by the Church of Scientology and their Scientology Missions International.