The church was built between 1938 and 1940 to designs by the architect Sigfrid Ericson, and was consecrated on 13 October 1940. The construction, costing close to a million kronor at the time, followed a decision by the parish council in 1935. Johanneberg parish itself had only been formed in 1929, through the division of Gothenburg's Vasa parish.
The building is faced in golden hand-struck brick and displays a strict, austere style blending 1920s classicism with functionalism. Its most striking feature is the 62-metre tower, or campanile, set at the southern corner, which dominates views of the church. Inside, the chancel floor, pulpit and font are carved from grey-green Kolmården marble. A side chapel stands at right angles to the main church and can be separated from it by a wall that can be raised or lowered.
Several fittings were designed by Ericson himself. The bronze altar sculpture by John Lundqvist was added in 1952, and the glass cross above the altar and the chandeliers were made at the Orrefors glassworks to designs by the artist Lindstrand. Textile hangings between the chapel and the main church, and further textile work on the organ loft, were created by Karna Asker-Ericson. A painting of the Return of the Prodigal Son by Oscar Björck hangs on the north wall.
At the church's foundation ceremony in September 1938, a copper casket was sealed beneath the final foundation stone, said to contain the building's plans, contemporary newspapers, coins, photographs and official documents relating to its construction — a customary practice of the period rather than an unusual one.
The main organ, on the two-storey west gallery above the entrance, was built in 1940 and substantially rebuilt and enlarged in 1996. A smaller chancel organ, originally built in 1996 for the now-closed Pater Nosterkyrka, was brought here in 2014 and adapted to suit the building's acoustics. The three bells in the tower, cast in Ystad, together weigh around five tonnes.