- [Reporter] For more than two decades,

Bishop Scott Volland and hiswife Debra have felt called

to the ministry of reconciliationbetween whites and blacks.

- The Lord reallyimpressed upon our hearts

to build bridges and reallyto kind of bridge the gap

between the differentculture bases in our society,

bring them back to a place where

they can not only live together in unity

but hopefully also come together

and worship together as a unified bodies.

- [Reporter] As pastorof The Heights Church

in Columbus, Mississippi, it was a vision

he often shared with his congregation.

- I believe that's the biblical mandate.

I believe, first of all,

that the church shouldreflect the community.

I believe that the churchshould reflect the kingdom

as a whole because God madeus to be a diverse people

we certainly should have churches

that reflect that diversity.

- [Reporter] In light ofrecent events involving

police-related shootings andcalls for social justice,

Volland felt compelled to jointhose rallying for equality.

- We've been very, very active lately,

even the more so sincethe videos have come up,

of course, with Ahmad Arbery's killing

and then George Floyd's killing

and we have been veryactive in prayer services

and protests, peacefulprotests and prayer marches.

We've been active, of course,

in different proceedingsaround our local government

on county levels and state levels

to try to bring about theremoval and relocation

of certain things suchas confederate monuments,

also the state flag in Mississippi.

- [Reporter] But his involvement with such

cases didn't go over well with his church.

- Not everybody was opposed to it,

but there were some that were opposed

to certainly the methods by which we used.

We were told that they didn'twant us part of any protests

or prayer marches regardlessif they were peaceful or not.

- [Reporter] Some threatenedto leave and during a meeting

with the church boardVolland was voted out.

- At the time we certainlyfelt very disappointed.

We had been involved in everyaspect of people's lives

from their weddings,weddings of their children,

baptisms, funerals, youknow all sorts of things

we had gone through, reallyjust poured into them

that it really disappointed us to think

that they didn't fullyunderstand our hearts

and certainly did not have our hearts.

- [Reporter] CBN Newsreached out to the church

for a response to Volland's statements

but did not receive a response.

Despite being fired,Volland says he isn't bitter

and still loves those he once served.

- That Sunday after themeeting was our final Sunday.

Again, some did not show upto the final Sunday service.

The last words that I spokefrom the pulpit were words

of blessing that congregation,praying for that congregation

and just simply asking them to pray

for us even as we wenton to further endeavor

in the area that we felt God called us to.

- [Reporter] A calling thatnow includes a new ministry

called The Bridge, amulticultural, multi-generational,

multi-ethnic church that Volland sees

as a vital part to fulfillingthe Great Commission.

- A bridge is somethingthat brings people together.

It brings disconnected areas

or disconnected groups together.

We believe that the Bridgeis a church for all people

that exists to do three things.

That's connect people with God,connect people with people,

and connect people with the world.

- [Reporter] Charlene Aaron, CBN News.