It is the church for the Øvrebø parish which is part of the Otredal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

The white, wooden church was built in a cruciform design in 1800 using plans drawn up an unknown architect.

In 1768 and 1789, the church was reported to be in fair condition, but in 1797 it was no longer in good shape.

It was found that the walls and floors had extensive rot in them, endangering the structure, plus the church gotten to be too small for the congregation.

Each church parish was a constituency that elected people called "electors" who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet in Eidsvoll later that year.