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Mission Santa Clara has had five church buildings in its history. The first two were temporary structures, abandoned because of floods.

The first permanent church, designed by Father Martuia, was started in 1781 and completed in 1784. King Carlos III of Spain sent a gift of bells, one of which still survives. He requested that the bells be rung every evening at 8:30 PM in memory of the dead, a tradition that continued even when the church was destroyed by fire.

In 1818, an earthquake damaged the church beyond repair. Fathers Viader and Catala built a temporary adobe church near the present site of Santa Clara University's Kenna Hall. it was used for various purposes until 1867.

Construction of the new mission started in 1822, at a new site. The mission was laid out in a traditional rectangular style. The church was completed in 1825 and it stood until 1926. The church was an adobe structure 100 feet long, 22 feet wide and 20 feet high. Its walls were four feet thick at the bottom, tapering to two feet thick at the top, and they were whitewashed with a decorative border painted inside. A Mexican artist, Augustin Davila, painted the scene of heaven above the altar.

In the 1860s, the church was remodeled. A wooden facade was built over the old adobe one, and a second bell tower was built.

In October, 1926, a fire destroyed the church. Some of the statues and paintings were rescued, as was one of the bells. The university began reconstruction right away, and decided to try to recapture the church's original appearance in 1825. They made it somewhat wider than the original so it could be used as the university's chapel, but the front was restored to the original design with one tower. The reredos and painted ceiling are copies of the originals.

The roof of the church has the original tiles from the 1822 church, which were removed and stored when the roof started sagging and leaking.

The mission still stands on the ground of the Santa Clara University.