CLACKAMAS, Ore. -- A Clackamas County briefing at New Hope Community Church is drawing criticism because some feel the venue was inappropriate.

The Oregonian reported that the event, sponsored by the North Clackamas County Chamber of Commerce, has been at the church for six years.

Critics, including residents and county employees, said not everyone is comfortable attending the briefing at a church.

Greg Parker, a county spokesman, said the chamber of commerce selects the location and no taxpayer money goes to the event.

"The biggest misconception is that this is a county-sponsored event," Parker said. "This is a chamber-sponsored event. They invite the commissioners to come in."

Some objections to the site, the newspaper reported, stemmed from a June "Love Won Out" conference at the church. The daylong conference, sponsored by Colorado-based Focus on the Family, offered therapy aimed at converting homosexuals into heterosexuals.

The Rev. Ray Cotton, New Hope's head pastor, said his church is not anti-homosexual, adding that homosexuals and lesbians attend the church, according to the newspaper.

"Theologically, we don't believe that it is a correct lifestyle," Cotton said. "We would not have had it (the conference) if we didn't endorse it, and we also wouldn't have had it if we felt it was inflammatory or we felt it was discriminatory."

Wilda Parks, president of the chamber, said the organization uses the church because it can accommodate seating and parking for several hundred people.

The chamber uses the meeting room without charge because the church is a chamber member, thus keeping the admission price down.

"I can't imagine anybody being distressed about the venue because of what's happened there in the past," Parks said. "It's a building."