The warm church that existed before the current one, according to the description from 1803, had the following structure. It was built of stone and dedicated to the Great Martyr Dimitri of Thessalonica, like the modern church, with one dome covered in white iron. In the altar, there was an altar table in specific proportions, with a silk covering and a linen antimins. The altar had paper vestments, and the curtain at the royal gates was also made of paper. The iconostasis in front of the altar consisted of one tier and included eight icons, one of which had a silver robe, another a copper one, while the rest were without robes. In other parts of the church, there were five icons, two of which had silver robes. In the refectory, there were eight icons, all without robes. By the beginning of the current century, the church had become extremely dilapidated.

At the end of 1811, the Vologda Spiritual Consistory ordered to "make a new roof on the Dimitriev Church, and to prevent the vaults from freezing, to lay moss or leather scraps on it." The clergy reported to the Consistory that due to various obstacles, it was impossible to put the roof and vaults in order, and that the floor in the church, which stood in a damp place, was almost lying on the ground, causing it to smolder and rot, affecting everything in the church. Therefore, to avoid wasting funds unnecessarily, a complete reconstruction of the church should be undertaken. The provincial architect Focht, who inspected the church, recognized it as extremely dilapidated and in urgent need of repair. As a result, active preparations for the construction of a new church began in early 1813. The expenditure book states that "on public advice, peasants Fyodor Govorukhin and Alexander Mokrushin went to the village of Ilyinskoye to inspect the church, spending 23 rubles." They likely wanted to borrow the design for their church, but it is unknown where exactly this village Ilyinskoye was located, as well as how the results of the inspection influenced the construction of the Kubenskoe church. Sheds for making bricks necessary for the construction were built back in 1812, and work on them was already underway. At that time, the priest was Fyodor Ostromov, and the church elder was a peasant from the village of Kubenskoe, Stefan Petrov Potanin, an energetic and organized man. They had many concerns and troubles during the construction of the church, especially considering the frequent lack of funds, which had to be compensated by intensified collections and sometimes loans.