How do I signal via email that I don't want a relationship to be romantic? Also an age gap issue.?

Hello all,

Happy Thanksgiving!

And now to the business end of things...

I responded to a personal ad on craigslist not looking for romance- it seemed like the guy knew of a somewhat secretive group I want to join so I emailed him asking about the group, not mentioning anything romantic in nature. He countered with a "would you enjoy spending time with me and then we can talk about the group" thing. How can I respond without agreeing to a date?

I'm not attached, and if he's cute and what I'm looking for, I'd be open to dating him... so I don't want to say I'm taken. I also don't want this to be a date thing. How can I say this without explicitly stating it? I'd like to leave it open, but I don't want him to expect anything.

Another issue- he is most likely way too old for me. I'm 17 (almost 18! yay! (legal to have sex with whomever I like in my state, btw)), and it seems as though he is ~30ish (late twenties?). I don't want to make a date with this guy if he's just too old for me. I don't really care about age that much, but I think a lot of guys would. What do y'all think?

BTW: This is a religiously themed group, and it seems like we share similar religious views. I'd like to join the group, and I don't know anyone who is a member besides this guy... and I really have no way of finding anyone else.

I'll be handing out thumbs ups to whomever answers as thanks.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the turkey!