If you see a biker on a 900 Kawasaki cruising Main Street in Ellsworth it may not be who you think.

The new pastor of St. Francis Catholic Church has more than one love in his life. Jesus is first and biking follows just down the line.

The Reverend David Olson arrived March 1 to serve the parish of St. Francis, Ellsworth, following 22 years of service and an eight-month sabbatical.

Olson’s hometown is Owen-Withee, Wis. where his mother was a practicing Catholic and his father, a Lutheran. He attended public school until college when he began his catholic education.

“In the back of my mind, I always thought about it [priesthood],” he said. “I had competing goals of studying law and serving the church.”

He was involved as a lay person in his local church as an adult, but never in his youth. At one point he decided he needed to put the issue of his profession to rest and decided becoming a priest was right for him.

“There is an abiding presence, a sense of ‘this is right for me’ that was always there,” he said.

St. Francis is viewed by the greater catholic system as a place where priests can learn about parish life and then move on.

“Having stability is a benefit for a parish,” he said. “But there is a shortage of priests. They get moved frequently.”

But it is not likely Olson will be moving too quickly. The 62-year-old priest has spent much of his adult life in various parishes and educational institutions already, including his doctoral studies of Sacred Theology in Rome, Italy, and chaplain and instructor of religion at Newman High School in Wausau, Wis. He taught at Mundelein Seminary outside the Chicago area, preparing young priests for church leadership. Mundelein holds the distinction as the largest Catholic seminary in the U.S. He has also served the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in La Crosse, and the Newman parish of the UW-Eau Claire.

Olson’s calm demeanor exemplifies his concern about our current culture and times. He reports that according to PEW Research data about church growth, of those polled, 25 percent reported as having no religious affiliation and the largest segment of those are catholic. The seasoned priest believes the Catholic faith needs to be made more intelligible and more attractive. Olson has a few ideas of how he will do that. As a skilled educator he can clarify where some may have questions or misconceptions.

One of the reasons for the departure from the traditional church may be a misunderstanding society has about the incompatibility of faith and science. Culture is teaching that one of the two must be untrue. Olson explains that in the catholic understanding the two go hand-in-hand.

“Poorly educated Christians are part of our challenge,” he said. He uses the story of creation as an example of a literal truth that must be read in a symbolic manner. “What does it mean for the life of a soul?”

“The priest is meant to be the shepherd of the flock. You have a role of guiding your parishioners as a shepherd. But you also have to have a softness of heart,” he said. “You have to be approachable.”

His new parish still livestreams its services on YouTube but is getting people back to joint worship at a limited capacity.

“I like to share with people my own love for the Lord and tell them why it’s important,” said Olson.

“I find that rewarding.”