After the establishment of the Sime ironworks in 1762, merchants Yakov Tverdyshev and Ivan Myasnikov built the Church of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica. It was erected in the church square next to the factory. There are two versions of why the church was named after Demetrius. According to the first, the church was consecrated on November 8, the feast day of the great martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica. According to another version, Myasnikov was tormented by nostalgia for Moscow, where his house was located opposite the Church of Demetrius of Thessalonica. Perhaps this influenced the choice of name for the church in the Southern Urals.

However, the church did not last long. In 1774, during the Peasant War led by Emelyan Pugachev, a group of rebels led by Salavat Yulaev captured Sime and burned down the factory, the dam, and the Demetrius Church.

Most sources claim that the church was wooden before it was burned. However, according to the notes of P. S. Pallas, who visited Sime in 1770, the building was already stone at that time: "The yards belonging to the factory people lie on the left side of the Sime River, below the dam, built and divided into regular streets, numbering up to 160. Near the hammers, there is an empty space where the newly built stone church stands, a decent wooden manor house with a garden, and the factory office." This is also confirmed by the travel notes of I. I. Lepekhin. There is a suggestion that a temporary wooden church was built near the Sime factory in 1759, and the stone one was constructed over several years. According to this version, the wooden church became a chapel for the stone one, and both were burned by Pugachev's men.

After the burning, the Demetrius Church was restored. In 1821, the owner of the factory, I. I. Beketova, allocated funds for the renovation of the outdated church. In a letter to the bishop, she requested permission to remodel the dilapidated stone church according to a new plan by architect Malyutin, approved by provincial architect Shcherbakov, except for the holy altar.

In 1872, the church was reconsecrated after the installation of a new iconostasis and altar. In 1902, thanks to the efforts of the manager of the Sime mining district, Alexei Umov, a large bell was installed in the bell tower.

The church was closed in 1929, stripped of its bell tower and dome. The building was used for various purposes: first as a depot, then as a fire station, and later as a food warehouse. During the Great Patriotic War, it served as a factory cafeteria.

In the fall of 1990, the church building was returned to the believers, and the first service was held in the church by Easter 1991. The enterprise OAO "Aggregate" provided significant assistance in the restoration. Reconstruction is ongoing, and the parish plans to fully restore the pre-revolutionary appearance of the church.

The Church of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica in Sime is considered the oldest in the Ashinsky district and one of the oldest in the Chelyabinsk region, although the building has undergone reconstruction. It is designed in the classical style. The reconstruction project in the 1820s was developed by architect E. I. Malyutin, but the builders deviated somewhat from his design. Before the revolution, the church had a dome on a high drum and a bell tower under a spire. Now, the roof features a set of small domes, and blue painting adorns the roof. Inside, the ceiling is decorated with figures of angels, carved from plywood and painted with watercolor in the 1990s by parishioners who helped with the restoration.

The area around the church is enclosed by a wrought-iron fence and is well-maintained, especially in the summer.