Father Larry Bids Farewell to Old Mission Santa Barbara

For the past 12 years, Father Larry Gosselin of the Old Mission has been Santa Barbara’s highest-profile Santa Barbara cleric — his handwaving celebrations at community events have long become a staple of social media — since Father Virgil Cordano. This week, Father Larry announced his duties will take him to Malibu’s Serra Retreat House as of November 1.

In a two-page letter, Gosselin — that rare being, a happy poet — expressed thanks and gratitude to the people of Santa Barbara who, he said, “have truly blessed me with your acceptance, love, and care and encouraged me to more of what it is possible to grow into as a person, a friar, a priest, and a member of this community.”

Gosselin moved to Santa Barbars in July 2012, just before that year’s Fiesta. His first assignment was to host the Fiesta Pequeña, which takes place on the steps of the Mission. He was smitten, he said, and would emerge as perhaps the single most recognized face of Fiesta in the years since.

Gosselin threw himself into Santa Barbara’s public events with rare gusto. “Even when I am not with you,” he wrote, “there is a bonding friendship that transcends time and space. And that will not change.”

Gosselin will not be leaving town completely but will be splitting his time between Malibu and Santa Barbara.