Both have been told they will not be entitled to a pension at retirement age. When they quit in 2011, Mountain was given a termination grant of £1,378 to help with temporary living expenses. Marion Mountain served an additional nine years as a sister-in-charge of a leprosy hospital in India. Mountain and his wife, Marion, between them served 46 years in the Salvation Army, in training and as officers.

Those who resign before their retirement age usually receive a modest one-off grant to tide them over.īut former officers say their pension pots should be allowed to grow until retirement age when they can be drawn upon, in line with most pension funds. The Salvation Army says the fund is a registered charity that provides discretionary allowances to retired officers. The Salvation Army funds a non-contributory pension scheme, the Salvation Army Officers Pension Fund, established by an act of parliament in 1963. Officers are not legally employed by the Salvation Army, and have no contracts of employment. The Salvation Army, a global Christian church which works among disadvantaged communities, provides officers with housing and a car and pays them an allowance of £12,240 a year. But I do feel angry with the leadership over this,” he said. “It was a tremendously rewarding experience, I have no regrets at all.

Philip Mountain, one of the complainants, said it had been a shock to discover he would never receive a pension even though he served as a minister of religion for 21 years.

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