NATCHEZ — Cleanliness is next to godliness, and a Ridgeland-based church is making the Natchez City Auditorium a little more Godly last week.

The Rev. David Hale of Christ Life Church said his church has budgeted approximately $75,000 for repairs and upgrades to the city-owned auditorium.

Christ Life is taking over management of the auditorium and will also be using it for Sunday night services. The church will launch the Natchez campus at a Sept. 8 service.

The church will pay the city $1,500 monthly to the city. The money will be placed in an account that will be used only for repairs and maintenance of the auditorium, Mayor Butch Brown said.

But the church, Hale said, is spending money now on the building.

“We have about $75,000 for immediate things,” he said.

Immediate work that is being done at the auditorium includes exterior and interior painting, window repair and replacement, cleaning mildew off the building and other work.

Hale said the church also plans extensive repairs to the restrooms and an update to the sound system.

“That is not just for us to use, that will be available to anyone who uses the (auditorium),” he said.

The auditorium will still be available to rent, and Hale said the church will not ask any groups who regularly use the auditorium for events, such as the Historic Natchez Tableaux, to relocate their events.

Brown said he believes the auditorium’s facelift will make it more attractive to groups seeking a venue and lead to more events being hosted at the auditorium.

Christ Life also plans to host events other than church services in the auditorium, Hale said. The church, he said, will have events geared toward teenagers, such as post-football game dances.

Those kinds of events, Hale said, will give local teens alternatives to parties with underage drinking and help alleviate peer pressure to drink.

“That’s one simple thing you can do,” be said. “Instead of going somewhere where they’ve been able to have alcohol supplied … we’ll just hand them a soft drink. And we don’t have a problem mixing clean secular music with Christian music for a dance, giving them a place off the streets.”

Christ Life events will also be a place where teens do not have to worry about having money to have a good time.

Managing the auditorium fits perfectly with Christ Life’s mission to serve the communities the church is in, Hale said.

“I always use the example you see in old movies where you see the church, and it’s the school, the town hall, and usually the entire community built it,” he said. “Our four vision points are worship, connect, grow and serve, and that last one is huge for us.”