Today marks the first sitting day of parliament, and politicians will be greeted by some disgruntled Christians. 

Protesters are rallying on the Beehive's forecourt today, and are expecting confirmation on whether the removal of references to Jesus in the parliamentary prayer still stands.

Christian groups are rallying on the parliamentary forecourt to keep those references in ahead of the first sitting day of the year.

They understand Speaker Trevor Mallard has taken time to reconsider the move over the Summer break.

Rally organiser Gordon Copeland told Mike Hosking some values are timeless.

"There's more Christians in the world than ever in history. So those values are continuing, and prayer is an very, very important part of life."

He said the idea is ill-conceived because the country's history is founded on the values of Jesus.

"To take Jesus out of the prayer, after praying every single sitting day for 163 years, having his name in the prayer, I think is a very, very sad day."

LISTEN TO GORDON COPELAND TALK WITH MIKE HOSKING ABOVE