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

Not much is known about the original church, but in 1338 Erling Vidkunsson wrote a letter to Bishop Haakon in Bergen that some robbers had broken into the church and set it on fire.

A second stave church was built on the same site in 1341 to replace the one that burned.

On 10 January 1859, a large fire heavily damaged the structure.

The new building was consecrated on 4 December 1864 by the Provost Wilhelm Frimann Koren.