Gladd, a graduate of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Mass. calls himself “theologically conservative and socially liberal,” the latter informed by an internship at a poor urban mission in Tulsa, Okla

A church congregation that can trace its roots back to the late 17th century has just called to the pulpit a 27-year-old pastor who blogs, wears T-shirts and listens to bands like Death Cab for Cutie and Radiohead.

And it’s all working out just fine, said Kittery Point Baptist Church Pastor Matthew Gladd.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the church, which was incorporated by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1811. (Maine did not become a state until 1820.) It’s a big deal for a small congregation of 30 to 40 people, who care tremendously about their church, said longtime member Robert B. Johnson, 84.

Johnson and Gladd may represent two ends of the age spectrum, but they’re very much in sync when it comes to appreciating the church’s history and planning for its future.
Johnson, who is well versed in the church’s past, said the church can actually trace its heritage to 1682. All New Englanders, and certainly Kittery residents, were members of the Church of England, he said, and those like the early Baptists were not looked on too kindly.

With some pride in his voice, Johnson described a congregation that had to meet in people’s homes, almost underground.

The first minister was William Screvens, who “was … invited to stop preaching by the town. They told him, if he didn’t go to the Church of England, he could spend some time in the county jail. And he did. He went to jail for his beliefs.”

Screvens remained in Kittery until 1696, when he went to Charleston, S.C., and found a church that is considered the oldest Baptist church in the south, and its congregation a precursor to the Southern Baptist Convention.

Meanwhile, the congregation in Kittery kept growing. The church, at the very tip of the Kittery Point end of Haley Road, was dedicated in 1875 and sits on land given to the church 50 years earlier by Darius Frisbee, whose family founded Frisbee’s Market.

There have been many updates to the church over the years — most performed by church members like Johnson, who said he’s made repairs underneath, inside and on top of just about every square inch of the building over the years.

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