The medieval parish church of Ryr, along with Vassända and Naglum, formed part of the Vassända pastorate on the western side of the Göta River. While its neighbouring churches were built of stone, Ryr's original church was timber, and by the early eighteenth century it was replaced with the present building at a new location. The old church site, about three kilometres north-west of today's church, is marked only by a simple wooden cross near Kyrkebysjön.
Construction of the present church began in 1730 and it is thought to have come into use in 1732, making it the only surviving timber church in the western part of the Diocese of Skara. Work continued for some years afterwards: an old account book records that the building was painted red in 1737, and that the altarpiece and pulpit were installed in 1746. A freestanding bell tower was erected just east of the church in 1755, followed by a porch two years later. The original gallery was small but was enlarged to its present size in 1781.
The church has a typical plan of its period, with a three-sided chancel wall, and its interior still largely reflects its eighteenth-century character. Between 1903 and 1904 a tower was added east of the chancel, built around the timber frame of the earlier freestanding bell tower; the sacristy occupies its ground floor.
Among the church's furnishings, the pulpit with its canopy, the altar and altarpiece were carved in 1746–1747 by the sculptor Johan Petter Weber and painted by Olof Collander. The gallery front is decorated in rococo style with painted scenes from the life of Christ, thought to be the work of Johan Henric Dieden of Uddevalla. The organ on the west gallery dates from 1967, built by Grönlunds Orgelbyggeri.