The church leaders spoke of love, compassion and dignity, there wasn't an empty seat in the room and afterwards the collection was passed around.

Yet this was anything but a typical religious congregation. Instead, in Geelong Magistrates Court on Thursday, seven church members explained the protest they staged inside an MP's office, calling for children to be released from detention centres.

Simon Moyle, Isabel Greenall, Jan Morgan, Craig Farrell, Brent Lyons-Lee, Erika Brunner and Tara Watts with supporters outside Geelong Magistrates Court. Credit:Pat Scala

The group - a Salvation Army captain, two Baptist ministers, a Uniting Church minister and three church members - was charged with refusing to leave a public place after an eight-hour sit-in at the Geelong office of Labor MP Richard Marles, the opposition's immigration spokesman, on October 13.

Salvation Army captain Craig Farrell said he and the other six protesters had staged a peaceful sit-in, during which they asked Mr Marles to push for Labor to change its policy towards holding children in detention centres, and adopt a more compassionate approach.