The present-day church rises in the location where a number of its predecessors have stood since the year 1600. The first of those is said to have been a timber structure with a turf roof, and that's where the village draws its name from: Velēna is Latvian for "turf". The construction of the present church started in 1896, and on 2 August 1898 the building was consecrated. The church was built of fieldstone, under the management of master builder J.Brauns. Its interior still retains the original 19th century Gothic style furnishings – the altar, the pulpit, and the organ façade.
The building accommodates a permanent exposition on the history of the church and the congregation.
