BOP DECIDES AGAINST 'EXPERIENCE APPORTIONMENT' IN 2011: Although reserves for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s Pension Plan continued to improve in 2010 after 2008's global financial meltdown, the denomination's Board of Pensions decided at its March 3-5 meeting in Philadelphia not to grant an "experience apportionment" for 2011. An experience apportionment is a percentage increase in pension payments for retired plan members and in pension credits for active plan members. Each 1 percent experience apportionment increases the Pension Plan's liabilities by about $50 million. The complete Presbyterian News Service story can be found at "Apportionment."

COLLEGIATE MINISTRIES FASK FORCE NAMED, MEETS THIS FALL: After years of downsizings and organizational changes, the office of Collegiate Ministries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is back and a newly assembled task force is working to discern the state and future of collegiate ministry within the church. The 219th General Assembly re-established the office and called for a strategy for collegiate ministry to be presented to the 220th GA. To that end, a task force will study, consult and highlight the need for collegiate ministry while working to come to an understanding of the state of the PC(USA)'s collegiate ministries. The Rev. Erica Liu, campus co-pastor at Pres House on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, was named to the task force. Heather Libich, director of child, youth and young adult ministries at First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Falls, Iowa, was the advocate at the 219th GA for the overture that called for re-establishing the office of collegiate ministry. The overture originated in the Presbytery of North Central Iowa. The complete Presbyterian News Service story can be found at "Collegiate Ministries."

HEIDELBERG COMMITTEE REACHES UNANIMOUS DECISION ON TRANSLATION: While presbyteries across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) currently vote on whether to approve the addition of the Belhar Confession to the Book of Confessions, another confessional document already in the book has been studied in meticulous detail. The General Assembly Special Committee on the Heidelberg Catechism concluded its meeting this month after deciding unanimously to recommend that the PC(USA) replace the current translation of the nearly 450-year-old catechism with a new common translation. The Rev. Gary Neal Hansen of John Knox Presbytery serves on the committee. The complete Presbyterian News Service story can be found at "Heidelberg."

CALIFORNIA CHURCH LEADS OTHERS TO HELP IN NEW ORLEANS: The members of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church of Pacifica, Calif., opened their arms and hearts wide to the people of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, managing to sweep up many other people in the embrace. Since 2007, the 200-member church just south of San Francisco has sent a group every February to the Gulf Coast. But it's not just St. Andrew members who go on the rebuilding mission trips; the group has expanded to include people from other denominations, as well as those who don't attend church. The complete Presbyterian News Service story can be found at "New Orleans."

ADVOCACY COMMITTEE FOR WOMEN'S CONCERNS HEARS FROM LEADERS, EXPERTS: How the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) relates to public policy was the theme of the March 23-24 meeting in Arlington, Va., of the Advocacy Committee for Women's Concerns as the group came to the nation's capital. That subject was especially timely for this meeting, which took place just before Ecumenical Advocacy Days, an annual Christian education and lobbying event March 25-28. This year's EAD theme is Development, Security and Economic Justice: What's Gender Got to Do with It? The complete Presbyterian News Service story can be found at "Advocacy Committee."

NEW MEDIA PROJECT SURVEYS ACP MEMBERS ON FAITH, TECH NEXUS: In a special collaboration with the Associated Church Press, the New Media Project at Union Theological Seminary in New York will conduct an unprecedented survey of ACP members in 2011 about the changing practice of religion journalism today. Results will be shared at the April 27-29 annual ACP convention in Chicago. The survey will explore how ACP member publications are adapting to changing patterns and tools of communication and the implications of those adaptations for their own mission, identity, and implementation. The complete Presbyterian News Service story can be found at "Survey."

PC(USA) MISSION PERSONNEL, MEXICAN PARTNERS SHARE MINISTRY: More than 1,000 miles separate the work of Chris McReynolds and Rachel Anderson, but they share a common commitment to serving people in Christ's name at the United States/Mexico border. McReynolds and Anderson are two of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission workers who serve with Presbyterian Border Ministries, an organization jointly sponsored by the PC(USA) and the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico. The complete Presbyterian News Service story can be found at "Shared Ministry."

PRESBY HISTORICAL SOCIETY NAMES DIRECTOR OF ADMIN SERVICES: John J. Wood has been named the director of administrative services for the Presbyterian Historical Society, filling a new position that was created as part of the society's restructuring that began last fall. Wood, a member of Media Presbyterian Church in Chester, Pa., began his work on Feb. 28. The complete story can be found at at "Historical Society."

MODERATOR'S MARCH COLUMN: LET A THOUSAND FLOWERS BLOOM: Cynthia Bolbach, moderator of the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) writes in her March column: "Where is the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) headed? I wish I knew. Serious, engaged, and exciting discussion about what our future will, or should, look like is going on all around the church." Bolbach's complete column can be found at "Thousand Flowers."