It is the church for the Leikanger parish which is part of the Nordfjord prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

The materials for the old church were saved and moved to the nearby village of Leikanger on the shore of the Vanylvsfjorden, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north of the village of Selje.

The parish used those materials to build a church at Leikanger to serve the people of the northern part of Selje.

The church was consecrated on 28 October 1866 as Leikanger Chapel and at that time, it had a couple of hundred seats.

After this significant renovation, the church was unrecognizable compared to before.