Charles Lawrence was a long time church leader, social activist, and educator. From 1948 until his retirement in 1977, he worked at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York as professor of sociology and chairman of the Department of Sociology. His active involvement in the church began in 1952 when he became the vestryman and senior warden for Saint Paul's in Spring Valley, New York. Sixteen years later, he became the first Black senior warden for New York's historic Trinity Parish. He served on the Diocesan Council and the Interparish Council in the Diocese of New York, which awarded him the Bishop’s Cross for Distinguished Lay Service in 1963.

Lawrence took his passion for the church to the national level in 1967 when he became a lay deputy of the House of Deputies. The 1976 General Convention elected him President of the House of Deputies, a role he held until 1985. He was the first Black deputy to hold that position and only the third lay delegate. During his tenure as PHOD, he improved the racial diversity of church committees. He also appointed women to legislative leadership positions and supported the ordination of women.

In addition to his legislative roles, Lawrence served on several committees, commissions, and boards of the church. In 1973, he served as chairman of the House of Deputies' Special Committee on the Ordination of Women to the Priesthood and Episcopate. He was the co-chairman of the Executive Council’s Special Advisory Committee on Church in Society along with Bishop Paul Moore, Jr. in 1976. He was a trustee for the American Church Institute, General Theological Seminary, and Berkeley Colgate Divinity School. In addition to these positions, Lawrence served on the Joint Commission on Ecumenical Relations and the General Board of Examining Chaplains.

Lawrence’s deep concern for social justice and racial equality directed his academic and church careers at home and abroad. He participated in the Anglican Consultative Council in England (1981) and in Nigeria (1984). In 1982, the Episcopal Peace Fellowship, of which he was a longtime member, awarded him the Episcopal Peace Award. He was also an early advocate within The Episcopal Church for the end to South Africa's apartheid policies and led the effort that resulted in the church's 1985 vote to divest its portfolio of stock in firms continuing to work in South Africa.

The Charles Radford Lawrence Papers are housed at The Archives of The Episcopal Church.