The Associated Press reports via Newsday.com: “House Bill Changes Church Pension Laws.” The legislation (H.R. 1533) passed the House by a 397-0 vote and would amend current securities laws so that church pension plans would be able to participate in “collective trusts” for investment purposes. Normally, secular pension plans diversify their holdings by investing a portion of their portfolios in rental real estate and other private investment offerings. Frequently, pension plans make these investments by joining other pension plans in a collective trust fund that is created and managed by a financial institution solely as an investment vehicle for pension programs. Current securities laws have prohibited church plans from participating in these arrangements.
You can read more about the bill here. If anyone has any insight into why these rules have been different for church plans, I would be interested in knowing the history.