MONROE — A decade after his move to what is now St. Clare of Assisi Parish in Monroe, Monsignor Larry Bakke is retiring from his position at the church that he has known and loved for ten years.

“I’m just getting to the point of I just kind of want to step back,” Bakke said. “I love being a priest, it’s just time to step back from all the responsibility. I love it all, but I think it’s just time.”

Bakke has been practicing for 46 years and hopes to continue dedicating himself to the Diocese even beyond his retirement from the parish.

“It’s such a privilege always to be invited into people’s lives whatever their age as well as everything from joys to tragic things or death or difficulty, sickness,” he said. “That’s just very much a part of being a priest. I always have taken seriously what I was ordained to do.”

Bakke’s dedication to the church began long before he was ordained at 25.

“I first started thinking of being a priest when I was in sixth grade. After college and grad school, it just became more clear,” he said. “I thought about doing a lot of other things in the meantime, but I always came back to this. Over the years, I came to — through a lot of prayer and discernment, listening — came to really trust that this is what God was calling me to do. That’s the adventure for all of us.”

An important part of Bakke’s work has involved not only sharing the Gospel, but working to ensure accessibility within the church.

Over the last ten years, he has seen St. Clare grow and change in ways that he is not only proud of but also grateful for, including the merging of St. Victor’s in Monroe and St. Rosalina in Brodhead in 2011, and an accessible addition to the 19th-century building.

“I’ve never rushed into calling for change but just really have always listened to what was happening in the parish,” he said. “Over time, over a number of years, we did some surveys to learn what people were thinking, what they thought and what they wanted. A huge issue that they wanted to [address] was how to make an 1800’s church accessible.”

Seeing the needs and the wants of the congregation, Bakke and a number of members and administrators set to developing a church that is accessible and welcoming to people of all abilities.

What started with fundraising and general planning to improve and grow the church building in 2017 broke ground the next year and was completed by Memorial Day 2019. 

Bakke credited the swift completion in part to the generosity and involvement of church members and the community.

“It’s been exciting just to be a part of all of this,” Bakke said. “It’s been wonderful to be a part of the growth of this parish, the merging of two parishes together, the growth of the parish itself, the growth of our school and the building program.”

Along with his work at St. Clare, Bakke works as the director of the Apostolate for Persons with Disabilities, something that he will continue doing even following his July retirement from the parish.

His duties with the apostolate include leading a televised worship service Sundays and bringing accessibility to parishes across the Madison Diocese.

Bakke’s years at the church have been anything but uneventful, and he hopes for his retirement to be the same. 

“I know that retirement for me is not going to mean just sitting in a chair and watching TV,” he said. 

Traveling, visiting family and reading are just a few of the ways he hopes to spend his extra time.

“I look forward to the day when I can turn the key in the apartment and throw stuff in the car and just start driving, exploring,” he said. “I love to explore. That’s always great fun, to just take off to different [places].” 

Even before retirement, travel was an important part of Bakke’s life — and an important way to connect with those around him.

“I love sharing that, being adventuresome with people,” he said.

Over the years, he has been on and hosted pilgrimages throughout the world — Alaska, Austria and Ireland being just a few of his dozen destinations.

“God’s created this amazing world with all of these interesting people. It’s so cool to just go and learn and just be among that.”

As Bakke prepares for the next chapter in his life, he looks back on his time at St. Clare with fondness and gratitude.

“The happiest people I know are people who live with a sense of gratitude so that’s what I always do,” he said. “I can’t imagine a life more challenging and fulfilling than this has been.”

Bakke’s successor will be Reverend Tafadzwa R. Kushamba. Read more about Kushamba in the June 26 edition of the Monroe Times.