It is one of the two churches for the Øye og Ranes parish which is part of the Indre Nordmøre prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Møre.

The new church was a timber-framed, elongated octagonal design with a tower on the roof of the nave.

In 1855, the private owners of the church sold the building to the local congregation.

A long deliberation began among the villagers to decide what to do with the church–should they remodel it, enlarge it, or tear it down and build a new church.

The new church was designed by standardized plans by Jacob Wilhelm Nordan with some changes by Hans Larsson Øye and Ole Scheistrøen.