Mr Baird is a proud and committed Christian who once considered becoming an Anglican minister. His rise to the top has seen a concentration of powerful religious conviction among the upper echelons of the new government.

The next year Mr Warburton reflected on the role of Jesus in his job and that of his boss during a speech to primary and high school students at Redeemer Baptist School at Parramatta.

''I've served Jesus in a number of different jobs and now I'm serving Jesus as a chief of staff,'' Mr Warburton said. ''And Mike, who's the Treasurer - he believes he's serving Jesus as the Treasurer of the state. He believes that he has a great opportunity to help people by making responsible decisions about the money from this state.''

He said he prayed for guidance before taking a job to make ''wise choices''. ''And how do you do that? Well, you read your Bible … and you understand what God's plan for your life is and how he wants us to make choices and what sort of criteria we should use to make those choices.''

Mr Warburton told the students they were privileged to learn about ''the Lord of the universe who put stars in the sky, who created the world, who created every single part of what we live in, who created each and every one of us''.

Mr Warburton is not the only like-minded colleague in Mr Baird's inner circle. A notable addition to cabinet is his close friend Rob Stokes, the new environment minister, who holds a a diploma in Bible studies. During Wednesday's swearing-in ceremony Mr Stokes omitted the words ''under God''.

He later said the decision was guided by Matthew's gospel in which Jesus frowned upon the swearing of oaths.

New finance minister Dominic Perrottet - a former protege of one-time ''religious right'' faction leader David Clarke - attended Redfield College in Dural, a school run by the conservative Catholic order Opus Dei.

Mr Clarke, whose wife Maria-Louise is an Opus Dei member, remains parliamentary secretary for justice.

Throw into the mix the deputy Premier and Nationals leader Andrew Stoner - who attends the evangelical C3 church - and the Baird/Stoner government is shaping as the most devout in living memory. It is a stark turnaround from a week ago when NSW was led by the relatively secular Barry O'Farrell.

But Mr Baird rejected the notion his government would be influenced by the strength of religious belief in his office or his cabinet. ''I'm not going to hide who I am and what's important to me, but I govern for everyone,'' he said.

He said faith ''is a matter for the individual''. ''My position has been clear in the Parliament,'' Mr Baird said.

''I don't go into Parliament and seek to legislate that. I'll respond on the basis of conscience.''

Mr Baird is on the record as opposing same sex marriage, embryonic stem cell research and same sex adoption. However, he committed to allowing Liberal MPs a free vote on such matters, as did Mr O'Farrell.

Asked if his decision-making as Premier would be guided by the Bible, Mr Baird said: ''I am guided to do everything I possibly can to look after every single person in this state and to do it fairly and justly.''

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