The missions themselves are sites for education sponsoring field trips and archaeological digs. Many of the missions have docent programs. Volunteers tell visitors of the history of the missions. Colleges and universities have classes on mission history that do on-site excavation. There are several preservation and research associations that students and scholars can take part in.
Education seems to be a defining purpose.
The more we learn about our surroundings, the better able we are to make a statement about our relationship to our surroundings. The missions were perhaps one of the first truly multicultural experiences in California. The Indians came into the missions in relative peace and incorporated the aspects of Catholicism into their own rituals of community building.