The small church of Vyksa, known as the Church of John the Theologian, was built thanks to the efforts of the Batashov brothers in the late 18th century and consecrated in 1799. Initially, the church served as a cemetery chapel and did not have its own parish, being attached to the Christ the Nativity Church. It lacked a refectory, and the bell tower was single-tiered. Over time, when the church could no longer accommodate all the parishioners, a refectory was built between it and the bell tower. The spherical dome was replaced with an onion-shaped one, and the facades were decorated with kokoshniks. After the reconstruction in 1857, the church acquired the shape of a ship. Later, a stone annex with a gable roof appeared on the south side. In the late 1930s, the authorities decided to lay a road through the cemetery, close the church, and organize a pioneer club in its building. Believers tried to protect the church by writing a letter to Stalin. According to eyewitnesses, Stalin was surprised by the number of signatures and expressed regret over the large number of believers. However, in 1936, the church was still closed, and its property was transferred to the 'Large' church in 1937. There were not enough funds for the club, and on January 13, representatives of the authorities took the keys from the church council, and on January 15, they removed the domes and crosses, leaving the church open. Vandals desecrated the church, and later builders demolished the bell tower's tier, cut new windows, and equipped the second floor. Gothic openings became rectangular, and the paintings, except for the dome, were lost. Instead of the southern annex, a new northern one made of silicate brick appeared, but the cast-iron spiral staircase was preserved. A kindergarten was arranged in the building. By the late 1980s, there was no trace left of the cemetery, where many famous residents of Vyksa were buried, including Ivan Rodionovich Batashov, and a playground appeared in its place. In the early 1990s, the first priest after the desecration, Father Dmitry Kolokolov, was appointed to the church. In 1994, the restoration of the Theological Church began, which received the status of an architectural monument of republican significance. The church gradually regained its former appearance: windows were restored, and frescoes were renovated. In August 2016, a solemn installation of the framework of the main section of the bell tower, as well as the dome and cross of the church, took place.

On October 27, 2012, a memorial cross was consecrated behind the altar in honor of the founder of the city and the Vyksa factories, Ivan Batashov, as well as the masters buried at this site, including the factory manager M. P. Gornostayev and chief mechanic M. T. Popov. The site for the monument was chosen deliberately: about 200 years ago, there stood a bronze bust of Ivan Batashov, cast at the Snovedsk factory. The consecration of the monument was conducted by Bishop Varvara, head of the Vyksa diocese. The Church of John the Theologian represents an interesting example of classicism with elements of neo-Gothic; it is a cross-shaped single-dome building with a refectory and bell tower added in 1857.