Religious think tank Theos says social action is being carried out across the country but with state support being removed in many areas, voluntary work is needed more than ever.
The report 'Doing Good Better' outlines the growth in community work and suggests faith based organisations make up more around a quarter of the entire third sector.
But it says they need to keep innovating and improving to ensure the needs of people are properly met.
Speaking to Premier, report author Paul Bickley said: "The state is changing - it's doing less and Christian charities are going to be called upon to do more.
"We need to make sure our social action is genuinely effective and we're achieving what we want to achieve."
The report also lays out recommendations for faith-based enterprises wishing to innovate the services they offer.
These include building better relationships with social investors, working harder to measure the outcome of projects, and ways to help individuals collaborate with religious organisations and institutions.
Encouraging churches, Paul Bickley said: "There are ways of deepening [what we're doing], enhancing it and not just seeking to do more but seeking to do better.
"Better would be seeking to resolve and tackle problems at their root cause and looking at problems in a structural way rather than a responsive way."
Listen to Paul Bickley speaking to Premier's Marcus Jones: