Bishop Lawson  served as the pastor of the Holy Light Church since its inception in 1979 until August 11, 2024.  He is now the Pastor Emeritus of the Holy Light Church and yet serves as its Chairman of the Board of Dirctors.  Under his leadership, the church experienced significant growth. Bishop Lawson’s commendable leadership and administrative abilities coupled with the God-given vision for the multi-cultural growth of the Church of God in Christ in the El Paso, Texas, area were major factors attributing to his elevation and consecration to the sacred office of Bishop in the Church of God in Christ on February 8, 1997, to be the jurisdictional prelate of the newly formed Texas Western Jurisdiction of the Church of God in Christ, Incorporated. The new jurisdiction was formed because of the energetic and God-given efforts of Bishop Lawson. The Holy Light Church of God in Christ, Inc. is the jurisdictional headquarters.

The multi-cultural nature of the Texas Western Jurisdiction is reflected not only by the membership of individual churches, but by the fact that the jurisdiction has a number of Spanish speaking congregations. Bishop Lawson is bilingual and translated the Church of God in Christ Official Manual into Spanish for the benefit of all Spanish speaking churches and members of the Church of God in Christ.

Bishop Lawson’s academic and professional background includes twenty-five (25) years as a professor of physics at the University of Texas at El Paso. During his tenure at the University of Texas at El Paso (retiring in 1992), he served in various administrative positions to include the position of Chairman, Department of Physics, and Dean, College of Science.

He was the first Black to hold such positions in the University of Texas System. Bishop Lawson has been consistently saluted by the community and academia for his achievements and contributions. He holds a B.S. degree in physics from Virginia State College (now Virginia State University) and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from Howard University. He has published numerous scientific articles in refereed professional physics journals.

Bishop Lawson is the devoted husband of Mrs. Jene L. Lawson and the loving father of two adult children: Michael S. Lawson, M.D., and Edith S. Lawson-Johnson, M.B.A., C.P.A., C.I.A. The Lawsons have three grandchildren: Willie Thomas Dunlap, Steven Paul Lawson, and Sylvia Elizabeth Lawson.