In 1779, the village of Sergachevo was granted the status of a district town and renamed Sergach. At the same time, the diocesan authorities ordered the transformation of the Vladimir church into a cathedral and the relocation of the city cemetery outside the town. The cemetery was moved one and a half versts from the cathedral, which upset the residents, as their deceased relatives ended up outside the church fence, and they had no funds to build a new church. The solution to this problem was proposed by the owner of the village, Anna Gavrilovna Normatskaya. There were two wooden churches at the Chufarov cemetery, and she decided to gift one of them to the residents of Sergach. This was the church in honor of St. John the Merciful with a chapel of St. John of Damascus.

By 1834, thanks to the efforts of priest Ivan Ioannovich Pustynsky, construction of a stone church began at the city cemetery to replace the old wooden church in honor of St. John the Merciful. The church was surrounded by a stone wall with a guardhouse at the entrance. The townspeople had no funds for construction, but Ivan found a solution: he built a shed with his own money, where he set up brick production, which he sold, and the proceeds were directed to the construction of the church. The entire town participated in the construction: some kneaded the clay, others fired the bricks, and others collected firewood. Thus, through collective efforts, the church was erected. It is known that Father Ivan himself passed away on January 4, 1848, and was buried in the same cemetery, opposite the altar of the church he had built.