From Pulpit to Pavement, Pastor Campaigning in Cleveland Heights for Social Security

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH - Two hours is a long way to drive when you're campaigning for a cause. For Reverend Dr. Jefferey P. Kee, pastor of New Faith Baptist Church of Christ in Columbus, who was pitching people on non-partisan social security protection in Cleveland Heights, it was probably the shortest trip he's taken this past year.

The pastor's biggest journey was one metaphorical step and probably 10 or 15 actual steps. See, the step from pulpit to pavement was more arduous than any trip he took on behalf of social security.

"There's no decorum on the street," he says. "You have to have tough skin, or you have to stay inside the church. For me, I wanted to go out and preach equity in a non-partisan way. I think that to be a great pastor you have to get out of the pulpit and pull someone from the pit."

He said the lessons he's learned from being out of the pulpit have formed a type of on-the-job training. The campaign for social security was never about identifying with a particular political party, he says, but uniting around a particular cause. His campaigning has been supported by the AARP who equipped him with various tchotchkes to pass out.

He's also learned the cold-calling and cold-meeting is a mixed bag. People have cursed at him for bothering them, cursed at him for calling them, cursed at him for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's more cursing than a church-bound pastor is likely to encounter in a lifetime of sermons.

It's not all swearing and anger, though. There's also a unifying energy that the pastor says he's experienced, which seems all too rare in the 2016 election cycle.

"We've spent enough time around the table to know that we're all alike," he says. "This is about a cause that goes deeper than skin or political party."

Kee was handing out red "Take a Stand" backpacks at the corner of the Cleveland Heights Lee Road Library for hours on Nov. 8, standing more than the required 100 feet from the polling location. He and his partner, Paul Smith, were advocating on behalf of social security, a cause they've been extolling for at least 12 months. They asked voters, or anyone passing by, to consider the depletion of social security funds, particularly those going to seniors.

"This is about equity," Kee says. "It isn't about a particular candidate. It's about making sure that people who paid into this system are able to benefit from it. Do you have a parent? A grandparent? They deserve to benefit from this program because they've been supporting it."

The pastor has been non-partisan in his campaign for social security. He's visited Democratic and Republican rallies throughout the state. He specifically cited a recent Tim Kaine trip through the Lorain area in late October, saying he was happy the vice-presidential candidate spoke directly about social security for four or five minutes.

"I just want to help people," Kee says. "I want to help build and maintain the apparatus of support that helps everyone."