Of Church of Scotland denomination, it is located in St John's Place, just southeast of the city centre.

[2] After the sermon, the congregation stoned the priest, removed ornamentation from the church, and then went to nearby Greyfriars, Blackfriars and Charterhouse monasteries, "stripping them back to their bare walls".

[2][4] St John's Kirk was subsequently divided into three separate churches — East, Middle and West — each with its own minister.

[2] Pre-Reformation features of the church include holy water stoups, piscina, a stone niche and mason's marks.

[6] Perth's first dedicated war memorial was unveiled in St John Street, at the rear of the church, in 2021.

[7][8] The church's early stained glass is the work of Ballantine and Allan, Stephen Adam and Douglas Strachan.

Of these, 35 form the active carillon installed in 1935, which is housed in the main tower belfry; the remainder are disused (13 hang in the side belfry on the north side of the spire which are visible from the outside, and the remaining 15 hang in a metal frame at floor level within the church building).

The bourdon or largest bell of the carillon, weighing 1429 kg, is an extremely fine casting by Peter Waghevens of Mechlin (Malines) and is dated 1506.

There are five Flemish chime bells (at floor level), dated 1526, which bear no maker's name but may be the work of Willem van den Ghein of Mechlin.

[11]  The whole carillon was set up for playing in the Croydon bell foundry in January 1935, and was inspected by the Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald.

The manual transmission of the carillon was replaced; the bell frame cleaned down and repainted by John Taylor & Co in 2022.