Protesters want Abbott to come to Jesus

A group of Christian leaders has been escorted from Parliament House by security officers after calling for Tony Abbott to have another come-to-Jesus moment over asylum-seeker policy.

About 40 protesters from the Love Makes A Way movement staged a sit-in in the building's entry foyer for more than five hours on Wednesday before security intervened.

They were peacefully escorted one by one from the building, each singing the hymn Were You There.

More than 100 members of the group, which takes its campaign to end Australia's "inhumane" asylum-seeker policies to locations around the country, have been arrested over the past year.

Spokesman Craig Farrell, a Salvation Army captain, said the group wanted to see a change of heart from both major parties on the treatment of asylum seekers.

They also want children and families released from offshore processing centres and into the community.

"We won't stop until all children are released," Mr Farrell told reporters.

He urged the prime minister to adopt a more compassionate view on the issue.

"I would hope that perhaps he might have a second come-to-Jesus moment and change his heart," he said while asking for Labor to do the same.

Mr Farrell acknowledged Parliament House security had been respectful of the protest, but the group would have like to have stayed longer.