The current building was originally constructed in 1861 in the style of Gothic Revival architecture by architects C. F. Matthes, John C. Kaumeier, and Pastor Steffan.

[3] Saint John's Lutheran Church is a red brick Gothic Revival structure built in a cruciform plan.

It sits on a sandstone foundation, and has a low pitched gable roof and partially projecting tower in the front.

The corners of the church have angled buttresses topped with metal pinnacles, and the side walls are divided into bays by piers.

The auditorium is cruciform, with plaster walls and wainscoting made of wide, dark-stained, vertical pine boards.