It is the church for the Svatsum parish which is part of the Sør-Gudbrandsdal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar.

The white, wooden church was built in a octagonal design in 1860 using plans drawn up by the architect Otto Hjort Friis.

The church is also sometimes referred to by older spellings such as Saurtsæimi, Suartzheim or more recently Svartsheim.

[5] The statue of Paul is one of the chief works of early church art from the Gudbrandsdalen valley.

This happened the following year, when a new church was built at the bottom of the valley, about 300 metres (980 ft) to the south.

[5] The new church was designed by Otto Hjort Friis and built by carpenter Johann Eriksen from Lillehammer.