Solutions to Violence | Rev. Dean Bucalos | Prisons and Re-entry Programs | Feb. 2, 2026

Rev. Dean W. Bucalos is the former executive director of Mission Behind Bars and Beyond, an ecumenical re-entry program that trains faith-based groups to work with returning citizens upon their release from prison. In addition, he is the founding pastor of New Life in Christ Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a congregation he began inside Dismas Charities-Diersen, a women’s re-entry facility in Louisville, Kentucky. He served as a part-time mission specialist for prison and jail ministries with the National Benevolent Association of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Rev. Bucalos was ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in 1994. He has served as the pastor of congregations in Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana. He is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, The University of Kentucky College of Law and Lexington Theological Seminary. Prior to his ordination, Rev. Bucalos practiced law in Ashland and Lexington, Kentucky. He has served as an adjunct professor at Bellarmine University in Louisville, where he taught classes on Christianity and Social Justice. In retirement, he has continued his ministry by facilitating several contemplative dialogue groups, both on-line and in person.