Martin Kelley Appointed Editor of Friends Journal

Martin Kelley has been appointed Editor at Friends Publishing Corporation, publishers of Friends Journal and friendsjournal.org, effective 6/1/2011.

"I'm excited to be rejoining the Friends Journal team at this point in its history," writes Martin.  "There are many opportunities emerging to engage Friends in new ways and to share our spiritual witness more widely. There's no better platform for that work than Friends Journal. I love blogs and do-it-yourself publishing, but as these social media proliferate, there's an ever-greater need for the Journal to sort through, collect, and amplify the must-read voices of contemporary Friends. I hope to find ways to bring the new media to the Journal while strengthening the print edition that remains the heart of Friends Publishing Corporation. I look forward to working with board, staff, volunteers and the many friends of Friends Journal."

"Martin Kelley's experience, vision, and clarity of voice will serve our readers well as we renew our focus on growing our audience and providing an engaging experience across multiple media," Executive Director Designate Gabriel Ehri writes.  "Martin has a keen sense of the big issues facing the Religious Society of Friends today, and he's not shy about confronting them directly and honestly.  He will be an asset to our already strong team."

Martin Kelley is a South Jersey Friend with a love of outreach and ministry and a passion for looking afresh at Friends' testimonies, language and practices.  Before becoming an independent web developer and social media consultant, Martin Kelley worked for Friends General Conference, Friends Publishing Corporation, and New Society Publishers.  He is the creator and publisher of QuakerQuaker.org, a community site for the Convergent Friends movement.  He co-founded the Quaker Ad Network with Friends Publishing Corporation in 2010.

Martin has been building online communities since 1995, including QuakerQuaker.org and the pioneering Nonviolence.org.  An early adopter of user-created media, he was blogging in 1997 and has hands-on experience with a wide variety of social media services.  In 2008 O'Reilly Media published Martin Kelley's e-book Web 2.0 Mashups and Niche Aggregators.

Martin has given workshops and panel presentations on renewal movements in the Religious Society of Friends.  Sponsors of Martin's events include Philadelphia and New York Yearly Meetings, Quakers Uniting in Publications, Pendle Hill, Ben Lomond Friends Center, Friends Council on Education, Friends General Conference, William Penn Charter School, and Friends meetings including Central Philadelphia, Moorestown, and Medford.  He lives in Hammonton, N.J., with his wife and three sons.