Our Leadership

Commissioners Paul and Jenine Main are the Territorial Leaders for The Salvation Army in the UK and Ireland.

Based at The Salvation Army’s headquarters in Denmark Hill, London, the Commissioners have responsibility for more than 750 corps and social work centres, as well as many thousands of officers, members, lay staff and volunteers in the UK and Ireland.

Read about our international leaders. 

About Commissioners Paul and Jenine Main

Commissioners Paul and Jenine Main have been Salvation Army officers for 37 years.  They were born into Christian families and grew up worshipping God in The Salvation Army, becoming Christians as children and being discipled as teenagers, growing in an understanding of faith and deepening their love for Jesus and a desire to serve him.

The similarity in their childhood ends there however, as Paul moved around Scotland with his Salvation Army Officer parents, attending 10 schools and living in 11 different Scottish locations, while Jenine lived in one home in Basingstoke with her parents, who had secular employment. Paul had known God calling him to full time ministry since his mid teens, whereas Jenine’s calling came whilst training to be a teacher at Roehampton College in 1981. In 1984 Paul and Jenine left their respective homes to go to the International Training College for officers which is where they met and very quickly became friends. The rest is history as they say!

At commissioning Paul was appointed to Liverpool Clubmoor corps and Jenine to Cefn Mawr in North Wales. Once married  in 1986 they led the Liverpool Clubmoor corps together before being appointed in 1988 to Connah’s Quay in North Wales where both their children, Rebecca and Cameron were born.   In 1992 they moved to the Isle of Man - a complex corps appointment with two Nursery facilities, a day centre for the elderly, a charity shop, a bail hostel, and a corps recycling facility.  

They enjoyed five fruitful years whilst undertaking additional studies which contributed greatly to their development as officers. Following this, they returned to North Wales to Wrexham corps, and then a 7 year appointment at DHQ in Cardiff, when Paul was the Divisional Director for Evangelism and Jenine the Divisional Director for Personnel.  Their children completed their secondary education in Wales.

An appointment to THQ followed, where Paul was the Territorial Evangelism Secretary and Jenine was the Mission Development Officer, but quite quickly Jenine took a corps appointment at Upper Norwood corps, while Paul remained at THQ.  

In 2011 they were appointed as the Divisional Leaders of the Central South Division and enjoyed a great time seeing God work in the lives of men and women throughout the division.

More separate appointments followed when Paul was appointed back to THQ as the Assistant Secretary for Personnel and Jenine was appointed as the Divisional Commander of the Central South Division.  18 months later Paul was appointed as the Secretary for Personnel and Jenine the Divisional Commander of the new North London Division.  During this time Paul was also appointed as the Executive Officer to the International Staff Songsters which was both a privilege and a joy for him to be able to express his worship in singing and preaching.

A surprise appointment to the Caribbean Territory in 2018 as Chief Secretary (Paul) and Territorial Secretary for Women’s Ministries (Jenine) gave them a wider knowledge of the International Army, before returning to the UKI Territory as Chief Secretary (Paul) and Territorial Secretary for Leader Development (Jenine).

From 1 January 2024 they will commence as Territorial Leaders in the United Kingdom and Ireland Territory, taking up these new appointment responsibilities with the rank of commissioner.

This year they celebrate  37 years of marriage.  Their two adult children are now married, and have given Paul and Jenine four delightful grandchildren.  They are all serving the Lord in The Salvation Army. They love spending time with their family who are an absolute joy to them. Jenine loves reading, walking and swimming to keep healthy while Paul enjoys gardening for exercise and relaxation!  

Free time is always at a premium but they are always energised and encouraged by the weekends they spend travelling around the UK discovering new places and meeting new people – seeing The Salvation Army in all its diversity.