It is the church for the Tørdal parish which is part of the Bamble prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark.

The white, wooden church was built in a cruciform design in 1809 using plans drawn up by the architect K. Johnsen Bøe.

Several repairs were carried out on the old stave church over the years, including in 1630-1634 and again in 1717 to help save the centuries-old structure.

By the 1800s, this church was considered to be too small and in poor condition so it was decided to build a new one.

In 1809, a new church was built by Kittel Johnsen Bøe on the same site.