In an address to the 68th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Anaheim, Calif., Sept. 7, 1985, the outgoing president of the House of Deputies, Charles Radford Lawrence II, cautioned the two houses that they must not be "the bland leading the bland. Jesus tells us to be the salt of the earth, providing zest, initiative and healing to life."

True to his own exhortation, Mr. Lawrence was ending a nine-year term of leading the House of Deputies, having done just that, bringing zest, energy and healing during a stormy period in the church's life.

He was born May 2, 1915, in Boston, and raised in Utica, Miss., where his parents were teachers. He received his bachelor's degree from Morehouse College in 1936, a master's degree from Atlanta University in 1938, and a doctorate in sociology from Columbia University in 1952.

From 1943 to 1947 he taught sociology at Fisk University in Nashville, and was a research associate at the Institute for Race Relations. From 1948 until his retirement in 1977, he was professor of sociology at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, serving as chair of the sociology department from 1966 to 1977.

Always active in the church at diocesan and national levels, he was elected in 1976 to succeed the Rev. John Coburn (who had postponed his consecration as Bishop of Massachusetts in order to preside over voting on the prayer book and ordination of women). Conscious of the heavy responsibilities of the office, he took early retirement from his university post to devote himself full-time to his duties as president.

In a fluke of history, Mr. Lawrence was probably the only person elected vice president and president of the House of Deputies in the same week. At the beginning of the 1976 General Convention, he was elected vice president to fill the vacancy created when another African American, Charles V. Willie, resigned in protest after the House of Bishops declared invalid the 1974 ordination of 11 women in Philadelphia. By the end of the week, Mr. Lawrence had earned the full confidence of the house, and was elected without opposition to the presidency. He was the first, and to date the only, African-American to serve as president of the House of Deputies.

In a moving tribute at his father's funeral, in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City in 1986, Charles Radford Lawrence III recalled his father as an academician and a scholar but at the same time as a passionate and pragmatic activist concerned above all with leaving the world a better place than he found it. The son referred to his father as "a man of absolute principle and immaculate standards who expected much of himself and others, but loved us all without condition, without judgment."

One of Charles Lawrence's greatest assets was his wife, Margaret, a distinguished child psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. Together they created a vibrant and loving home, a sanctuary in an often hostile environment for themselves and their three children, who have each gone on to distinguished careers of their own. Through Margaret, Charles became sensitized to women's rights long before it was the politically correct thing to do. He was hailed in the House of Deputies for his efforts to appoint women and minorities to positions of leadership on legislative committees and interim bodies.

At the time of his death, then Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning referred to Charles Lawrence as "a giant in the life of the Episcopal Church, in the Anglican Communion, and in the lives of countless people, including mine ... [a person] who integrated his faith into every aspect of his life."

Giants leave big shoes to fill, but we honor Mr. Lawrence by holding fast to the principles and high standards he set for himself and for all those who love this church.

Pamela P. Chinnis is the president of the House of Deputies of General Convention. She lives in Washington, D.C.