The present church was built in 1858–1859, replacing a medieval building of the 12th or 13th century that had stood on Ljungby's old churchyard, similar in style to Kånna kyrka. It was consecrated in 1861 by the Bishop of Växjö. The new church occupied a central position where the old Lagastigen route met the road from the east, now Storgatan. Constructed of stone with ochre-coloured roughcast walls and white detailing, it has a rectangular nave, a rounded chancel and a tower topped by a lantern and spire.
Despite its plain beginnings, the interior gained rich decoration over time. Around 1900 three chancel windows were added, designed by the artist Reinhold Callmander and made by a Gothenburg glassworks; they depict Old and New Testament figures including Moses, David, Peter and Paul, with Christ in Gethsemane at the centre. A 1926 renovation brought elaborate ceiling paintings and two painted medallions by Alf Munthe, showing the meeting of the risen Christ with the disciples at Emmaus and the legend of Saint Christopher.
The church was substantially restored in 1964–1965 under architect Kurt von Schmalensee, when the tall spire and cross were added, the tower clock faces changed, and a new sacristy built. During this restoration the artist Sven Ljungberg, a native of Ljungby, created the striking altarpiece: a gilded mosaic triptych over three metres high depicting the Via Dolorosa, Christ's final journey to the Crucifixion, arranged in fourteen scenes around a central image of the Resurrection. Ljungberg reportedly travelled to Italy to select the glass, cutting and fixing the mosaic pieces himself once back in Ljungby. The predella beneath is faced with grey Kolmården marble and decorated with carved motifs including nails, a crown of thorns and a scourge, set around a rune stone said to be the earliest found locally bearing an engraved cross.