Fr. Bacalis was born in Norfolk, Virginia, to Greek-American parents George and Connie Gretakis Bacalis. He attended and graduated from Granby High School, The University of Virginia, Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary, and the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland. He served as Director of Youth Ministries at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he met and married his wife Vivian Couchell. They have been blessed with two daughters, both of whom are married. Katrina and Brad Kellen reside in Charlotte, North Carolina, and have two sons, Nicholas and Noah. Anastasia and John Stonestreet also reside in Charlotte, North Carolina, with their children Sofia, Ariadne, and Luke. 

Ordained as a Deacon in his home parish in 1971, Fr. And Presvytera spent a year in Greece where he served in an Athens parish and in the summer as Assistant Director of the Ionian Village Program, where he was ordained to the Holy Priesthood on the Feast of the Transfiguration.  

Upon returning to America, Father began his first ministry in 1972 at the Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Jamestown, New York. When the opportunity presented itself to return to Virginia in 1976, he began a twenty-year pastorate at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Roanoke, Virginia. While there, he served as a contract chaplain at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center and served a term as President of the Roanoke Valley Minister’s Conference. 

In 1996, he was appointed Dean of the Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Richmond, Virginia, where he continues to pastor. He has served as President of the Archdiocese Presbyters Council and has received the Faith and Action Award from the Virginia Council of Churches, where he participated on the Faith and Order Commission. He also serves as a Campus Minister at the University of Richmond.