Emma Lewell-Buck told Premier it shouldn't just be down to church leaders to watch out for signs of abuse, and that the entire congregation has a role to play.
The co-chair of the Child Protection All-Party Parliamentary Group added that recent abuse scandals had brought the issue to the forefront of people's minds and that it was important it stayed there.
'Every time there's a new scandal, everyone talks about how safeguarding is all of our business, but then once that scandal disappears people forget again until another scandal happens,' said the Labour MP.
She added: 'People really truly need to realise the protection of our children should always be at the forefront of people's minds.'
Ms Lewell-Buck said a report into child abuse in Rotherham, which showed a failure on the part of authorities to pick up on the abuse of at least 1,400 children between 1997 and 2013, should be a warning to all.
The MP said the report had shown that people couldn't rely on others to safeguard against abuse and that they have a responsibility to report anything they considered to be wrong.
She said it was vital that churches had a system in place for safeguarding, but that every member of the congregation had to play their part.
'Churches are the centre of any community and there are lots of people who are involved in faith groups throughout their communities,' she said.
'So it's about making sure that everybody in those communities, within those faith groups, knows that safeguarding is everybody's business.'
Ms Lewell-Buck was speaking ahead of her talk at the Churches' Child Protection Advisory Service (CCPAS) International Safeguarding Conference in London, which will take place on 16th September.
The conference is titled 'The Contribution Faith can make to Safeguarding Worldwide'. CCPAS CEO, Simon Bass, said: 'Last year's conference was exceptionally well received by a wide variety of people involved in keeping children and adults safe, from police officers to social workers, across organisations from churches to missionary agencies.
'I am therefore very pleased to be able to announce another first-class line-up of speakers for this year, all of whom are at the forefront of safeguarding.'
Also speaking at the event are: Ian Elliott, former CEO for the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland; Meg Munn MP, chair of the Child Protection All-Party Parliamentary Group; Rev Paul Butler, the new Bishop of Durham and the Church of England's advocate for children; and Tim Loughton MP, who served as children's minister from 2010 to 2012.
Hear more from Emma Lewell-Buck MP here: