SCIENTOLOGY MISSIONS INTERNATIONAL
Overseeing the Mission Network

As is the case with field auditors, those who operate the Scientology churches that are called missions are likewise supported by an ecclesiastical structure which provides guidance and assistance.

Scientology Missions International (SMI) is the mother church for all missions and comprises the level above field auditors in Scientology’s ecclesiastical hierarchy. SMI’s international offices provide guidance, help and direction for existing missions through a global network of continental offices.

SMI International provides overall planning and technical direction for the mission network. This includes not only direction which enables missions to continue to minister their growing congregations, but overall guidance on all legal, financial and corporate matters.

SMI continental offices help new missions in their area get off to a running start. They provide the new mission with the materials and training manuals it will need to function. SMI also arranges for the staff of the new mission to apprentice in a successful mission operated by veteran, proven mission staff. SMI monitors this training to ensure that when the doors of the new mission open, the staff will be confident in their ability to minister to the needs of their community.

Continental offices also distribute the magazines, newsletters and other materials which keep the vast mission network briefed on interesting activities and other current developments, and they inform the public whenever a new mission is established in the country. They also provide a variety of dissemination materials missions can use to introduce the Scientology religion to others, and encourage Scientologists to open missions of their own.

SMI continental offices also arrange regular conferences for mission holders, so that members of the missions in a particular region can meet, introduce themselves to one another and work together on coordinated plans for supporting their ministries.

As missions grow, they can eventually become large enough to reorganize as a Scientology church. Many have done so.

Scientology missions are far more numerous than are Scientology churches, and each mission reaches out into society and brings Dianetics and Scientology to mankind through basic services.