KITCHENER — The Mennonite Church of Eastern Canada has accused a well-known church leader and local pastor of sexual and ethical misconduct, more than two decades after his death.

Vernon Leis, killed in a head-on collision near Baden in 1994, was a pastor at churches in Kitchener, Elmira and Tavistock, and was once a senior official in the Ontario-wide Mennonite church organization.

On Aug. 30, pastors at three local churches took the unusual step of naming Leis in a statement from church leadership that revealed the allegation against him in front of congregants gathered for Sunday worship.

The move came after someone came forward with an allegation that was "compelling and credible," the church said. Normally, a church committee's investigation would give the pastor a chance to respond, but in this case it felt the accuser's story was believable enough on its own to take action.

"They found the allegation credible and felt compelled to release the pastor's name," said David Martin, executive minister of the Kitchener-based Mennonite Church of Eastern Canada.

The church would not disclose how old the allegation is and remained tight-lipped on all other details. It's believed to involve a woman who claimed she had a sexual relationship with Leis, who was married.

"The details of the allegation are confidential. In order to be sensitive to those impacted, we simply can't share that information," Martin said.

Leis's son David Leis, the former mayor of Woolwich Township and manager of the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce who now lives in British Columbia, expressed disappointment in the church's decision but declined to comment.

In a statement, the church said it wanted to go public with the allegation against a "much-loved and respected pastor" as a "recognition of human sin and failure" — and to "confront a hidden truth and bring it into the light for healing."

"Experiences like this are always painful. It's extremely painful for congregations who are confronted with this, it's extremely painful for the complainant and its extremely painful for any family members connected to the situation," Martin said.

But another church insider believes the Mennonite Church of Eastern Canada jumped the gun on the strength of a single allegation and may have smeared a well-respected former pastor without a thorough investigation.

"I don't think they've been very fair to him at all," said Dick Benner, editor and publisher of the Canadian Mennonite magazine, based in Waterloo.

"To my understanding, there is only one accuser. To base a whole case on that, against a man who's been dead for 21 years, is a little thin I think. … He can't defend himself or give any kind of a counterversion to what might have happened."

The accuser is coming forward now to apparently "find peace" with something that allegedly happened many years ago, he said.

But the church has opened the door to gossip and speculation because it's "hiding behind a wall of confidentiality," Benner said. He thinks the decision to go public is a part of a larger struggle for transparency in the church in the face of growing pressure to confront ministerial misconduct.

"My opinion is the Mennonite Church of Eastern Canada is running scared," he said. "If they don't deal with this and make it public, they'll be challenged and held accountable by their constituency."

Leis began his career at Blenheim Mennonite Church, and later served large congregations at Elmira Mennonite Church, Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church in Kitchener and East Zorra Mennonite Church in Tavistock.

Leis — a "huge" figure in the Mennonite church in Eastern Canada, Benner said — was killed in February 1994 when his car hit another head-on along Highway 7 near Baden. He was 60 at the time.

Pastors in the Mennonite church are explicitly barred from infidelity. In a statement issued Tuesday, Martin reiterated: "It is the responsibility of pastors to maintain good boundaries in all relationships."

"MCEC holds all pastors to a high standard of ethical conduct. We want to assure congregations that we have policies, procedures and training for pastoral leaders that promote safe and ethical interactions between pastors and participants in our faith communities," the church said in a statement.

Any breach of those policies is considered an ethical failure in the eyes of the church, Benner said.

"They believe, even if it was consensual, the pastor with all of his authority should have stopped it," Benner said. "He should have taken control of the situation, and he is accountable for his actions. That's their position."