The present church is probably the third in the same place. When the first church was erected you do not know and written documents are completely missing. However, the fact that the church arrived early in Järeda is evident from the fact that the first priest known is a man named Birgler, who was "soul smoker in Järidha" and who in 1355 signed a witness certificate. The oldest church probably burned down, because during a renovation in 1926, when the covenant was put into the church, ashes and other signs of fires were found. This has been interpreted as remnants of the first church.
The second church was probably also made of wood, but since there are several objects preserved from it, the remains of fires, which were found in 1926, can hardly have originated from the other church but from an earlier church. If the other church had burned, you would not have had the opportunity to save heavy wooden inventories such as the altarpiece. Neither is the time of the Second Church being known. However, it remained until 1771, when the present church was inaugurated.
Current Church
Järeda's current church began to be built in 1771 and was completed the following year.
The church was built by a builder Holmberg in typical neoclassical style with a large church hall, a straight altar wall and an arched wooden roof.
The church was erected by the gravestone and each village was required to be responsible for the delivery of stone in a specific order. When the church was inaugurated, the tower was not completed and the peasants began to tire of the stone deliveries. A deputation from Järeda raised King Gustav III in 1773 with the request to be freed from further performance of more stones. The king granted the arrest, but that meant that the tower was 6 cubits lower than originally planned.
The first major repair was carried out in 1848. Then a new entrance was added on the south long side and the windows were enlarged and given a rounded upper. New windows were raised above the altar. At the same time, a new pulpit was procured and the altar essay replaced with an oil painting.
However, the older fixtures were stored in the tower chamber. They were preserved in 1924 as a preparation for the church's renovation in 1926. This meant, among other things. a. that the faith base and new floor were added to the church and in addition new benches were acquired in the style of the older ones and the whole church was repainted.
In connection with the excavation for the cemetery, a burial chamber from the mid-1700th century with five larger and one smaller coffin was found beneath the floor of the church. In this burial chamber, measuring 3,5 x 3,5 meters, rest members of the noble genus Fröberg from Fröreda.
The two fireplaces that heated the church in winter time began to smoke so much in the fire that the church soon blacked down again. The church was therefore provided with central heating in 1937.
The pulpit and the altar essay were set up in the church in 1926, but more like museum objects and thus they were not replaced by 1848 equipment. It would take some time for the renovation in 1939 before these fixtures came to their proper places and the 1800th century pulpit was adapted to the tower chamber, while the 1848 altarpiece was placed on the northern long wall.
For the church's 200th anniversary, the church underwent a gentle renovation, which essentially meant an internal repainting and the insertion of a new floor in the sacristy. At the same time, the chandeliers were provided with electric light.
An exterior renovation of the church was completed in 1978 and the church was handicapped accessible in 1990.
