It used to be the main church for the Moster parish which is part of the Sunnhordland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

According to tradition and the historian Snorri Sturluson, Norwegian King Olav Tryggvason built a church at Mosterhamn in the year 996 when Christianity was first introduced to Norway.

Around the year 1024, the King Olaf II of Norway (later Saint Olaf) held a thing at Moster where the oldest Christian law was introduced in Norway, converting the kingdom to Christianity.

The wall openings have Romanesque features, and the masonry is somewhat ancient in places, so archaeologists and historians believe the church was probably started around the year 1100 and completed around 1150.

The church is no longer used by the parish for regular worship, but it is still consecrated for use and so it is rarely used for special occasions.