It is located in the village of Rykene, on the north side of the river Nidelva.

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

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.

[5][6] In the late 1800s, the centuries-old Øyestad Church had become too small for the parish which was located close to the quickly growing town of Arendal.

The choir, sacristy, tower, altarpiece, and pulpit were all destroyed along with the paintings on the walls.

A few inventory items (such as a baptismal font from 1540, some altar silver and a couple of candlesticks) were rescued, but most were lost in the fire.