PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) Many Americans are giving up something in this dire economy. But Sharon Dawson will go without something unusual: her church.

To save money, First Unitarian Church has decided to close for the month of July. The Rev. Marilyn Sewell, senior pastor, said the 142-year-old church faces a projected $185,000 deficit for the fiscal year that ends June 30.

The closure, during a traditionally quiet month in the church calendar, will save a predicted $100,000 in staff pay and help the church avoid laying off employees. Employees also will take an additional two weeks of unpaid leave. Even so, the church will have to make additional cuts, said the Rev. Thomas Disrud, Sewell’s associate.

Houses of worship across the country are closing or merging because of the economy, but furloughs are rare.

“The congregation needs to own the problems and understand the consequences,” said Sewell, who announced the decision during services on Jan. 25 and then sent a letter to the church’s 1,500 members.

Normally, the church expects about 4 percent of pledges to go unpaid, she said, a number that’s been consistent through the 17 years she’s been pastor at First Unitarian. But this year, about 10 percent of pledges are unpaid, and about 250 families haven’t pledged at all.

Dawson, who said she pledges, worries about employees losing a month’s pay.

“I know that’s difficult for anybody. Would it be better to lay off some people and let others keep their jobs?” she asked. “I don’t really know what I would do.”

The closure will mean no worship services, no adult or children’s education, and no programming for the month. The only activities in the church will be those whose sponsors have rented the space, generating income, Sewell said.

Personnel costs are the largest expense in the church’s annual budget of about $1.8 million, Disrud said. The church employs 35, but because some are part time, they total an equivalent of about 22.5 full-time jobs.

Disrud has heard from at least one longtime member who wrote that shutting the church in difficult times is the last thing the congregation should do.

“But the most common response I’ve received is that we’re not happy, but this seems like a reasonable approach to it,” he said. “A lot of places are cutting back.”

Sewell was disappointed that the congregation was willing to accept the closure.

“I was hoping for more of a vigorous response from people who haven’t pledged,” she said. “But fear is a powerful force right now. People are thinking, `Wait and see — it may be even worse than we can imagine.”‘

Dawson, who’s been a member for four years and volunteers teaching Sunday school and doing other jobs, said it makes sense to share the burden rather than lay off employees.

“This is a community that sustains me and, hopefully, I give something back,” she said. “In July, there is going to be a big void in my life. I don’t know what I’ll do.”