Sandy Pace of Gloucester, a longtime member of the York River Circle of The King’s Daughters and Sons, has achieved an honor that very few can claim—she has been elected to serve as the international president of the International Order of The King’s Daughters and Sons.
In her new position, Pace will be responsible for overseeing an organization of more than 2,000 members in 150 circles across 25 states, the Virgin Islands, and one Canadian province. She has already begun traveling back and forth to the organization’s headquarters at the Chautauqua Institution in New York State.
Pace said her tenure will be about “moving us forward.” The King’s Daughters and Sons, which was established in 1886 in New York City, is “an older organization that seems to want to stay in that mode,” she said, “but I’m trying to revamp.”
Major goals for her three years in office, said Pace, will be bringing the organization into the 21st century and updating the facilities at the headquarters.
“You have to be relevant to today’s world,” she said. “You can’t ask people to join if they don’t see any reason to.”
The international organization was founded as a “sisterhood of service” in 1886 and quickly grew to over 50,000 members in 15 countries, said a history provided by Pace. Men and boys began seeking admission, and in 1891 they were added. The organization’s purpose was “the development of spiritual life and the stimulation of Christian activities.” But it has been in steady decline in recent years, said Pace.
“Christian work has fallen off because people’s priorities have changed,” she said. “It’s hard to get people to volunteer.”
One way that the organization has already changed in response to these stressors is to “focus on local first,” said Pace. With a mission to help the less fortunate and “give them Christ at the same time,” circles are concentrating on specific areas of need in their own towns.
Locally, there are four circles—York River, North River, and Ware River in Gloucester and Chesapeake Bay circle in Mathews, and they focus on autism and literacy in local schools and the funding of local scholarships. The international organization was instrumental in founding Sheltering Arms Hospital in Richmond and Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters in Norfolk, and the local circles all help raise money to provide ongoing support for those facilities. In addition, they provide contributions to local first responder agencies and a variety of civic organizations.
The four local circles have been able to keep their membership steady and have the biggest circles of any locality in Virginia, said Pace. In fact, Virginia as a whole has “stayed very dedicated,” she said, with almost 400 members statewide, matched only by the state of Missouri for participation. At the same time, circles in New York, the founding state, are struggling to survive.
“The problem is that we’re aging out,” said Pace. “But we haven’t given up. We have beautiful ladies who serve us well. They’re dedicated to the cause of Christ and helping other people. When we lose a member, it’s not because they’ve resigned, it’s because they’ve been promoted to their next life.”
Nationally, the organization provides funding for elder care facilities, affordable housing for seniors, food services, health and social services, summer camps, and over 60 annual college scholarships for underprivileged students in the U.S. and around the world who are going into the ministry or the health care fields. In addition, there are five paid summer residential career internships available onsite at Chautauqua for college students through the “Learn and Discern” program.
Chautauqua
Chautauqua Institution is a 750-acre, not-for-profit community with over 1,500 properties on Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York State. During its annual nine-week season, approximately 7,500 people are in residence on any given day, with more than 100,000 attending scheduled public events. Founded in 1874 by two Methodist ministers, the institution quickly included other denominations and faiths and “continues to be ecumenical in spirit and practice,” says the website.
Beyond living facilities, Chautauqua is a self-contained community, with dining, shopping, grocery, and recreational facilities; a 1,500-seat amphitheater; a library; a post office; and a fitness center.
In 1972, the International Order of The King’s Daughters and Sons moved its headquarters to Chautauqua from New York City. It owns four properties there—a chapel and three guest facilities housed in old Victorian homes. IOKDS employs two people full-time at Chautauqua and, in addition to the college internships, provides fee-based summer retreat opportunities in its guest facilities for both members and non-members.
Among those who stay as guests in the houses are wedding parties, families or organizations having reunions, and people who are just interested in the wide variety of programs, classes, and activities offered by the institute. There’s a Clergy Week, when IOKDS provides housing and food for as many as 20 clergymen who gather for fellowship and enlightenment, and there’s Reunion Week, when members of IOKDS members gather.
Sandy Pace herself
Pace has been a member of the York River Circle since 2000, when she retired from Rappahannock Community College after four decades as an educator and a professor at various colleges. “Someone invited me to get involved in the Lord’s work,” she said, adding that two of her surviving mentors are Nan Pointer and Jean Brown.
When she first began volunteering with the circle, Pace said she was involved in a number of other organizations, but she quickly realized that the work she really wanted to do was with KDS.
“Once I saw what we were doing, I decided to get out of the other things and put my energy here because I saw what good things were happening,” she said.
After working with the local circle for a while, Pace began maintaining membership records for the Branch (or state-wide organization), and then became involved in several international committees. For the past six years, she has served as the vice president of the international organization.
As president, Pace had to choose a symbol and words to grow by. Her symbol includes a Bible and a shoe, and her words are “Both the leather on your shoes and on your Bible should be well worn from spreading the Gospel.”
For information about the organization, visit iokds.org. For information about local circles, click on “Who We Are” and, under Branch Presidents, click the “View Now” button.