It is one of the two churches for the Porsgrunn parish which is part of the Skien prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

The white, concrete church was built in a modern, rectangular design in 2019 using plans drawn up by the architect Espen Surnevik.

[3][4][5] In the mid-1700s, the wealthy population of Porsgrunn wanted a new church on the east side of the growing urban area.

The idea for a church on the east side of Porsgrunn was a few years in the making, but came to fruition due to the influence and capital of a few of the area's wealthy merchants, shipowners, and ironworks owners.

[6] On 9 August 1754, a message urging residents to donate towards a new church was sent out by four of Porsgrunn's most important men, all of whom were successful businessmen with connections to Danish royalty.

The fundraising campaign was a huge success, and within a short time, the men had collected between four and five thousand rigsdaler for the church.

Since they now had the land and the funds required, the new committee for Østre Porsgrunn Church just needed permission from the Dano-Norwegian government to begin construction.

The architects assumed the church would be built using stone as most were in Denmark, and completely overlooked the limitations of wood in construction.

Since timber framing techniques were not yet commonplace in Norway, Jacobsen was constrained to building with logs that were paneled with cut planks on the exterior walls.

[citation needed] The church's steeple was topped with a copper-clad Baroque spire with a unique profile.

On top of that lay an elaborate ornamental iron weather vane which was the work of local blacksmith Hans Christian Arveschoug.

The church was consecrated on 10 July 1760, an event that was presided over by Bishop of the Diocese of Christiania, Frederik Nannestad.

[8] The altarpiece was built in 1890 and painted with an image of Jesus on the cross by esteemed Norwegian romantic nationalist painter Axel Ender.

It was in Baroque style, with two Ionic order pilasters on either side and above it an arched architectural motif superimposed with a cloud shining light to represent God.

The chapel was built in 1921 by Haldor Larsen Børve, a local architect who was also responsible for Vår Frue Church down the road, as well as bigger projects such as Dalen Hotel and the new Porsgrunn City Hall.

The local police were notified at 3:15 in the morning, but when a nearby patrol unit arrived a few minutes later, the fire was already quite large.

The same night, there had also been an attempted arson about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) away, at Borgestad Church in Skien, but only a few benches there were damaged.

The two suspected arsonists were put on trial at Nedre Telemark District Court, with proceedings beginning on 21 February 2013.

[22] While others, such as the local branch of the Rødt party in Porsgrunn, believed that the church should not be rebuilt at all, but instead the land would be used for some secular purpose.

[14] In September 2016, it was announced that (following consultation with the construction company) the church building design had to be modified in order stay within budget.

[25] The organ was installed in the fully built Østre Porsgrunn Church during the height of Norway's second Covid wave during winter 2020.

The organ was digitally consecrated (due to continued covid-19 restrictions) in a service on 18 April 2021 with organist John Beech.

The inauguration concert was finally performed on 29 August 2021 by the organ consultant Karstein Askeland, together with soprano and violinist Liv Elise Nordhaug.