The municipality and parish of Gjemnes was established in 1893, and that is also when the first church here was built. The church was designed by Jacob Wilhelm Nordan and it was one of his last since he died in 1892 and the plans he draw were not actually used until 1893 when the church was built. The wooden long church has a tower on the west end and a pair of sacristies on either side of the choir.[3]