It is located in the town of Leirvik on the southern side of the island of Stord.

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

In 1724, during the Norwegian church sale, the church was sold by the Crown to Lieutenant Colonel Hans Fredrik Green to pay for the debt from the Great Northern War.

The architect Andreas Grønning was hired to design the new church, and soon after he completed the drawings in 1854, he died, so Frederik Hannibal Stockfleth from Bergen oversaw of the construction.

In 1955–1957, the church was restored and remodeled under the direction of the architect Torgeir Alvsaker.