Hartola, which had previously been a chapel under the Sysmä parish, became an independent parish in 1784 and was named Gustaf Adolf's parish after the crown prince of Sweden-Finland. Hartola is mentioned as a parish as early as 1398 in a papal document. No other written records of the first church have survived. According to tradition, the sanctuary was located on the isthmus between Lake Jääsjärvi and Lake Rautavesi, and it was likely a regional church without its own priest or vicarage. Hartola is listed as a chapel of Sysmä from the 1540s onwards, and it is mentioned that Sipi Henrikinpoika built a chapel church in the 1590s.

More detailed information exists about the wooden cross-shaped church built between 1684 and 1693. The builder is named as Daniel Juhonpoika. This church was dismantled and moved to Pertunmaa in 1928, where it still serves as a house of worship. A commemorative stone now marks the location of the old church. The organ was moved to the new church, and the altar painting, "The Ascension of Jesus" by L.J. Carlström, is placed in the Hartola Parish House.

Hartola's current new church was built between 1911 and 1913. It was designed by architect Josef Stenbäck, who also served as the contractor, with the help of a master builder. It is said that some of the church's construction stones were quarried from the church site, while others came from the Ylemmäisten village. The church is a granite structure in the national romantic style, blending influences of neo-Gothic and Jugend styles.

Josef Stenbäck also designed the stained-glass painting "For Your Sake" as the altar piece, which depicts Jesus on the cross surrounded by two angels. The stained glass was created by Heinrich Schiffers from Bremerhaven, Germany. The architect's daughter, Maija Stenbäck (later Tawastjerna), had posed for the design of the angels. The church's wrought ironwork was made by Fredrik Westman from Raahe.