It is the church for the Kristiansund parish which is part of the Ytre Nordmøre prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Møre.

The white, concrete church was built in a modern, rectangular style in 1964 by the architect Odd Østbye.

[3] The church was nominated as the representative from Møre og Romsdal county as the "Building of the Century 1905-2005" (Århundrets byggverk 1905–2005) for Norway.

It was built about 350 metres (1,150 ft) to the north on Lyhshaugen (a nearby hill named after merchant Lyhs).

Budget overruns and large municipal expenditures in general meant that the Nordlandet project was postponed, despite the fact that land was purchased.

[5] During World War II, the Germans bombed the town of Kristiansund in late-April and early-May 1940 and many buildings were destroyed and burned including Kirkelandet Church.

Odd Østbye won an architectural competition for a new church in 1958 for a project called "Quartz in roses".