A church at Norra Unnaryd is documented as early as 1346, when it was noted during a bishop's visitation. That earlier medieval timber church, which had its own sacristy, was eventually dismantled; two of its doorways and an altarpiece survive, reused in the bell tower and in the present church. Permission to rebuild was granted around 1710, and the new timber church was completed and consecrated in 1714.
In 1722 the interior was painted with scenes and texts drawn from the Gospels; traces of this decoration are said to survive beneath later wall panelling. A major renovation took place at the end of the eighteenth century (sources give 1794 and 1795), during which the chancel was enlarged and given a three-sided end, and a vaulted ceiling was installed. The white timber cladding seen today was added towards the end of the nineteenth century, and the church's steeply pitched, shingle-covered roofs remain one of its most distinctive external features.
The interior has been reworked several times, with significant repainting in 1798, 1896 and 1928, and changes to wall and ceiling linings over the years. The most recent major renovation, carried out in 1963–1964 under architect Lars Stalin of Jönköping, gave the church its current dark, close interior character, with a new ceiling, new pews finished in dark-brown stain, and pew doors painted with naive-style scenes attributed to the architect himself. The chancel was raised and a new sacristy replaced the old one.
Among the furnishings, the pulpit of 1737, carved with figures of the apostles, is the work of the sculptor known variously as Nicolaus Kyhlman or Niklas Kihlman. Panels showing Christ and the apostles seated around the altar rail are thought to date from the 1700s, possibly reused from an earlier altar rail, though one source places their execution more precisely in the 1720s. The church's older altarpiece, painted in 1664 with a depiction of Christ in Gethsemane, now hangs on the north wall; a generous donation allowed it to be restored and given new lighting in 2018. The present altarpiece, painted in 1896 by Ludvig Fridh (recorded elsewhere as Ludvig Frid) and depicting the Transfiguration, hangs above the altar.
A bell tower is recorded as early as 1691, though it was struck by lightning in 1731 and rebuilt in 1733. Its larger bell, of unknown original date, was recast in 1854 by C A Norling of Jönköping, while the smaller bell was recast in 1844 by M A Rönnblom, also of Jönköping.