Biography
He was born 9th March 1918, in the community of Fox Hill (Congo Town) to the parentage of Moses and Lillian Armbrister. He attended what was then Sandilands All Age School and worshipped and served at Mt. Carey Union Baptist church (Little Zion on the Hill). He was joined in holy matrimony to Dorothy Rolle of Farmer’s Hill Exuma on the 10th January 1943 and the couple was blessed with seven boys and two girls. The union enjoyed fifty-five (55) years of marital blest.
His spiritual life was full, having dedicated his life to his Lord and Saviour at the tender age of sixteen (16). He was ordained as a Deacon in Mt. Carey Union Baptist Church at the age of twenty-two (22) under the pastorate of Rev’d Melvin Rahming and served under four subsequent pastors in all sectors of the church. He was set apart and ordained to the gospel ministry with laying on of hands by the second Superintendent Rev. Enoch Backford1 and other ministers on 11th May 1959.
He served as Associated Minister at Mt. Carey Union Baptist church as well as other Union churches and offices in the Union as a minister of the gospel. These included President of the New Providence District, President of the Baptist Young People Union (B.Y.P.U.) now Baptist Training Union and 3rd Assistant Superintendent of the Bahamas Baptist Union under President, Rev. Dr. Charles W. Saunders. He also had opportunities to serve at Salem, Kemp Road and Gambier Union churches and played an active role in the Exuma and Long Island District Conventions.
For his faithful and unselfish service to his church and indeed the Baptist community he received numerous accolades. Some of which included title of “Knight of the Kingdom of God” by the Bahamas National Baptist Convention, during Baptist day October 1975, “Faithful and dedicated service” to both his church and the Bahamas Baptist Union by his Pastor and Superintendent emeritus Rev. L.D. Cox in 1986, an honorary doctorate degree of divinity (DD) from Richmond Virginia in June 1990. He was also honored for his life of “Loyal and Committed” work at Mt. Carey during the church’s 150th anniversary celebrated in April 1993.
He was just as active in his community of Fox Hill serving as the master of ceremony for the annual Christmas cheer program for many years. He also served as the treasurer for the Fox Hill Burial Society, a member of the 6th Bahamas Boy Scot Association and several fraternal groups. He was recognized for his contributions by both the “Fox Hill Development Association” and the “Concerned Citizens Committee” in 1990.
Randolph Armbrister answered the call to defend his country and by extension the British Empire during WWII. He was a part of the West Indies regiment that trained in Jamaica and he was posted first in Egypt and then Italy. His oversees tour of duty spanned the period of 1943 to March 1946. Recognizing the goodness of God, on his return to the Bahamas shores one of his first act was to kneeled down and whisper a pray thanking his God.
His entire adult working life was spent in the employ of the United States embassy where he spent some thirty-nine (39) years. In paying tribute to him during an appreciation banquet held in April 1986, then U.S. Ambassador Lev. E. Dobriansky said “It is my great pleasure and special privilege to have been asked to participate in the celebration honoring the Reverend Randolph Armbrister. Affectionately known to the staff of the United States Embassy as ‘The Chief’, Reverend Armbrister has proven to be a man of monumental courage, wisdom, and strength, and dependability. Mr. Armbrister is a kind gentleman who during his thirty-nine years of dedicated service and loyalty to the Embassy earned the respect and admiration of all his co-workers.”
On the same occasion then President of The Bahamas Christian Council Rev. Dr. Philip Rahming J.P. said, “He is faithful, consistent, dependable and always the last one to leave the church….”
For the same occasion then President of the Bahamas National Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention (B.N.B.M. & E.C.) and Superintendent of the Bahamas Baptist Union (B.B.U.) Rev. Dr. Charles W. Saunders said, “Over the years, I have come to respect the Reverend Mr. Armbrister for his unassuming disposition, his cooperative endeavors and his words of encouragement and solace, whenever we meet or communicate. He is undoubtedly one of the Bahamas Baptist Union’s most reliable, committed and dedicated sons of whom we can all be justifiably proud.”
Faithfulness unto death is the crown of life. Rev. Randolph Harold Armbrister departed these shores on February 14, 2001. His remains are interred in Mt. Carey Union Baptist church graveyard.