The church was built to replace two earlier medieval churches, one at Bjärka and one at Härlunda, each dating from the first half of the twelfth century. Both older buildings were demolished once the new joint church was ready, and much of their stone and timber was reused in its construction. The site chosen lay on the boundary between the two former parishes, on the Härlunda side.
The building master was Sven Westman. The church took the name Bjärklunda in 1785. Later changes included the addition of a sacristy and removal of the chancel gallery during a renovation in 1859, and the construction of the granite tower in 1862 to a design by the architect Ludwig Hawerman. The ceiling was renewed and repainted in 1913, and a larger restoration followed in 1931.
Inside, the furnishings reflect the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. For the church's centenary an altarpiece depicting a Calvary group was acquired from an art foundry in Munich. Both medieval altarpieces from Bjärka and Härlunda churches have also been preserved and are displayed inside. Two medieval font bowls survive: one, in the chancel, came from Härlunda church and is thought to belong to the so-called Bolum group, dated to around the mid-twelfth century; the other, standing in the porch, came from Bjärka church and is also medieval.
The church retains two medieval bells. The larger is late medieval and bears no inscription, while the smaller, more roughly made bell carries a brief inscription of five Gothic minuscule letters.
Archaeological excavation of the Härlunda church ruin in the 2000s uncovered a substantial number of medieval coins, including a high-silver-content bracteate struck at Lödöse in 1260. The Bjärka church ruin was excavated separately in 1929.