Our Parish Meet the Staff

Fr. Alberto Petroff was born in Argentina and was ordained to the priesthood in 2004. He received his formation and training for the priesthood in Maryland (1999-2001), Argentina (2001-2003) and Italy (2003-2004).

After his ordination to the priesthood, Fr. Alberto studied Biblical Theology in Italy and worked there until 2008. From 2008 until 2019, he served the Catholic Church in Athens (Greece), working mainly with Greek Catholics of the Latin Rite and a diversity of foreign catholic faithful.

All the years he worked in Greece, but in a special way, the first seven years, he served many American families working at the American Embassy of Athens.

Fr. Alberto has been serving in the Archdiocese of Miami since 2019. His service began at St. Patrick's Church in Miami Beach, where they worked from 2019 to 2020. Following this, he was assigned to St. Timothy Church in Miami, serving there from 2020 to 2023. Since July 2023, Fr. Alberto has been the administrator of St. John the Baptist Church.

Sandy Gans was born in suburban Philadelphia but grew up in South Florida and considers herself an almost native Floridian. She attended St. Rose of Lima in Miami Shores where she received her First Communion, Confirmation, and was later married at the church. She has an artistic flair, which she inherited from her mom, and received her BFA from Barry University.

She has had a wide range of careers from a traveling gypsy performer to marketing in corporate America, to working in academia at Broward College to currently here at St. John’s parish office. Sandy has been married to her high school sweetheart for over 42 years, has a beautiful daughter currently studying nursing and two very furry huskies. Sandy is thrilled to be part of the St. John the Baptist and looking forward to enjoying many years at the parish.

Cathy Stayton grew up in the Township of Washington, New Jersey.  The daughter of a dedicated public servant, she learned at an early age the importance of faith and service. She completed her education with a degree in Business Administration. 

Cathy has served in multiple customer relations, management and administrative roles in New Jersey, New York and Florida.  She is married to her husband Jim of 21 years and has two wonderful children.  Cathy prides herself on being a detail-oriented team player with strong organizational skills.  She looks forward to engaging in the life and ministries of St. John the Baptist Parish and working with each member of the community to deepen their faith in God. 

Meg Cairns just celebrated her 2nd anniversary of being the Coordinator of Religious Education at St. John the Baptist, and has enjoyed getting to know the families and children of our parish through this ministry.

Born in Virginia, but raised in Kalamazoo, MI, Meg has enjoyed living in Washington DC, Connecticut, New Orleans, Boston, and Atlanta before moving to Fort Lauderdale. A proud alumna of Georgetown University, Meg also holds two Masters’ degrees, from Georgetown and Tulane University, and worked for many years as a psychotherapist in hospital and private practice settings, and enjoyed being a fitness instructor and yoga teacher before hearing the call to work for the parish.

Approaching their 20th wedding anniversary this year, Meg and her husband Kevin have both been volunteer catechists with the religious education program here, and both of their daughters have been students in the program. Younger daughter Emilia is preparing to receive the sacrament of Confirmation this year.

In her free time, you can find Meg and her daughters in the dance studio or on stage! Performing arts have always been her passion, from playing the cello in chamber ensembles to acting in musical theatre productions; currently she enjoys ballet, tap, and jazz genres of dance and is exploring flamenco this year as well.

“There are shortcuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them.” — Vicki Baum