After high school, she studied music at Luther College in her hometown of Decorah for two years from 1968 to 1970 before transferring to the University of Iowa in 1970.
[2] After graduation, she taught music for two years at a Roman Catholic school in Cresco, Iowa.
[4] Larson has also been presented with Honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees from Wartburg Theological Seminary and Luther College.
She also served on the Northeastern Iowa Transition Team, became the District trainer of the Search Bible Study congregational lecturers, and was a member of the Iowa District Theological Task Force that authorized Evangelism Guidelines for Congregations.
While serving as assistant to the bishop, Larson would deny requests from various synods to put her name on their ballot.
[2] However, Larson was elected bishop of the Lacrosse Area Synod of the ELCA on June 22, 1992, at the age of 42 and was re-elected twice, in 1996 and 2002.
[4] After serving three terms, the maximum term-limit allowed by the ELCA, Larson stepped down after 16 years as the La Crosse Bishop on October 1, 2008.
[2] As bishop, Larson oversaw the La Crosse Area Synod, which included 43,600 members from 81 congregations in 10 counties in western Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota.
She was a member of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Agenda Committee of the Conference of Bishops of the ELCA, served from 1988 to 1993 as a member of the ELCA Task Force on the Study of Ministry, and spent two years as President of the Wisconsin Council of Churches.
[4] In 1997, Larson was a delegate to the 50th anniversary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Hong Kong.
[8] The ELCA, which is the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States, first began to ordain women in 1970.