GFS Perth
Then, now and soon to be
The Revd Alison Gilchrist
It might surprise you to know that friendship has always been in the spotlight. Countless pages have been written through the ages by poets, anthropologists, sociologists, historians, theologians, psychologists, philosophers, and others, demonstrating the need of humans to define and explain what friendship exactly is and what role it plays in our lives.
If you research the history of friendship most articles will take you back to classical Greece and to Rome, and especially to Aristotle and Cicero, whose thinking influenced the shape of friendship for centuries. For them friendship was interpreted in light of its social significance, its moral basis, and the ethical rules it implied. The Greek word philia is translated as friendship, and from time to time I’m sure you have heard it expounded in church, as one of the numerous words the Greek language has for love.
Moving on through the centuries, in the Middle Ages religious beliefs played an important role in how friendship was perceived, when a whole new set of values centred on Jesus emerged. Friendship and love were united in the care of ‘thy neighbour.’ A new morality was personified in Christ, though sometimes it led to alienating people from one another, engendered by the thought that loving another human too much would come at the expense of the love of Christ.
Come the 12th century, there were some changes in the concept of friendship in the West, when there was some reconstructing of friendship as an earthly relationship, not something that was necessarily directed towards Christ.
During the Renaissance when Cicero’s work was studied and quoted, his ‘On friendship’ influenced thinking and his ideas held some sway into the 18th century.
The Enlightenment saw new changes in concepts of friendship, influenced by the rapid changes that early globalisation brought, including the rising rates of literacy which gave many more people the opportunity to read others thoughts, and formulate new ideas.
The religious perception of friendship shifted. Nicolas Malebranche, for example, thought that a religious man should demonstrate his affection for God by loving his friend and neighbour, and not expecting anything in return.
Industrialisation and urbanisation brought about changes in the social lives of people. The number of meeting venues, and the variety of shopping increased, different associations started developing, offering the middle-class new ways to entertain and socialise. The working-class recognised the importance of uniting in their shared goals, so the first unions were established around the friendship concept of camaraderie.
Women also formed special communities and started strengthening their voices, and onto the scene came The Girl’s Friendly Society (1875) - more of that in a moment. In the20th century, friendship became a more important part of a person’s life, treasured, sometimes even more than family or religion, as people found in others the support vital in helping them endure difficult times. Increasingly people developed relationships predominately with others their own age, further increasing the sense of a friend as someone who understands what you are going through. Reciprocity became, and remains, a hallmark of a good friendship.
As the 20th century came to a close a special kind of friendship was being birthed, one of warm, emotional, intimate and mutually reliant relationships. According to the British sociologist Ray Pahl, ‘In the modern world, friendship has reached a new level of firmness and complexity; it has started suppressing family relationships like never before.’ Now, in the technological age, where the ability for communication abounds like never before, making close connections is limitlessly possible, with people who have never met in person developing both many and deep relationships as a new kind of friendship, a much debated one - the virtual friendship, etches itself on history’s pages.
So, as promised, I will return to an earlier point – The Girl’s Friendly Society (GFS), which was one of those women’s organisation formed as friendship was being redefined in the Victorian age of expansion. Officially established in England on 1 January 1875 by Mary Elizabeth Townsend, an Irish clergyman’s daughter married to the wealthy Frederick Townsend, GFS began to be conceived through conversations in Western Australia 140 years ago and was chartered officially in 1888.
Much has happened in the ensuing years and a good deal of it is covered in the 1998 centenary book A century of challenge: a history of the Girls’ Friendly Society in Western Australia from 1888-1988 by Jean Seymour. And, just as friendship has been reshaped and defined through the centuries, so it is the case for GFS Perth as we take a leaf from the annals of history and continue the process into the future.
In case you have been wondering, there is a reason for me reflecting on the history of friendship, because as we celebrate the fact that 140 years ago GFS Perth was in the minds and conversations of our state founders, the names and faces of many GFSers we have met in our lifetimes, from Western Australia and elsewhere, have been evoked. With all of them in mind, in October, we are hosting a celebratory event called GFS PERTH: the Reunion of Friends, at which we will celebrate all those who have developed and guarded the legacy we are taking forward, as well as unveiling the details of what is planned for the next steps of the future.
And finally. . . a request. If you, or anyone you know has ever been involved in GFS, in any way either in Perth or anywhere else in the world, and would like to attend the event, in person or virtually, we would be thrilled to extend an invitation to join us. Please forward details to office@gfsperth.com.au and we look forward to sharing this momentous moment in time with friends from far near.
Stay safe and hopeful
Alison
CEO, GFS Perth