XENIA, OH - Dr. Marc Allen Clauson entered God’s presence at the age of 69 after his fleshly heart failed on April 4, 2025. He will be missed as an exceptionally wise and generous teacher, devoted churchman, artless friend, and kind husband and father, who influenced countless hearts and minds for Christ’s Kingdom.

Born January 6, 1956, Marc was adopted as an infant along with his twin brother, Kevin, by Donald and Phyllis Clauson, who taught them the importance of a Christ-centered church. He grew up in Huntington, West Virginia, his beloved hometown, where he played by the railroad tracks, donned matching suits with Kevin to Otterbein United Methodist on Sundays, and excelled in his education at Huntington East High School.

Many are surprised to learn that Marc studied physics as an undergraduate student at Marshall University. He continued on to earn a master’s in political science at Marshall before obtaining his J.D. at West Virginia University. It was during his time at law school that he began trusting in the Lord and submitting his academic, vocational, and personal ambitions to Him.

After serving a couple years as an assistant West Virginia state commissioner, he moved to Virginia to teach at Liberty University. A position as assistant director of economic development for the city of Huntington took him back to WV before he returned to Liberty to teach for six more years. He earned both a master’s of theology in reformation church history and historical theology and a master’s in early Christianity and church history from Liberty while he taught there.
Marc became a competitive ultra-runner in the hills of Virginia during this time and continued running and cycling for most of his life. Decades later, Marc still laughed that his running buddies affectionately called him “Weeny” for his slim frame.
On top of all these pursuits, Marc was known to make the five-hour drive from Lynchburg to Huntington every weekend and on breaks, particularly to attend Union Baptist Church pastored by Bob Barbour, who encouraged him greatly in his faith.

During these visits home, he also worked for the Students for Christ college ministry at Marshall, where he met Jennifer Myers, a tall, witty, pretty Presbyterian. They married in 1991, and what started as a successful first date to the West Virginia high school state cross country meet turned into an eccentric and beautiful picture of Christ and His Church that would persevere for almost 34 years. Out of their partnership came Footnotes Bookshop, four daughters, ceaseless prayer, and a loving household defined by both truth and poetry, conviction and humor, friendship and discourse.

Since his conversion, Marc’s concern was that scripture inform every aspect of thought, and he believed God had called him to aid other Christians in that goal. He would often end his prayers before meals and classes alike asking the Lord, “that we might honor You in everything we do, say, and think.” Marc consistently emphasized that a religious mind was not enough, advocating instead that we embrace the “warm piety” of the Puritans by exercising our faith with kindness and wisdom instead of attacking one another with obscure theological controversies. He wanted believers to understand the Bible in context so that our minds would be transformed by the Holy Spirit, ultimately leading us to live in a way pleasing to God.

To that end, Marc taught high school at Lexington Christian Academy and Trinity Christian Academy, directed the Christian Worldview Graduate Program, and pastored Hope PCA while he worked on his Ph.D. In addition, Marc filled various adjunct positions along the way at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Lexington Bible College, Christ College, and other institutions.

Marc earned his doctorate in intellectual and church history from the University of the Orange Free State in 2001 and in 2002 became a professor of History and Government at Cedarville University, where he evaded the fire marshal and taught passionately, excellently, and cheerfully up to just days before he died.

Despite his astounding breadth and depth of understanding in subjects from ethics to economics, Marc’s attitude was devoid of intellectual arrogance but reflected the guileless assumption that his students loved discussion and learning as much as he did. He began many Cedarville classes with a hymn to illustrate to the students that, as he liked to say, a correct theology produces doxology.

His published works include “A History of the Idea of ‘God's Law’ Theonomy: Its Origins, Development and Place in Political and Legal Thought” and “A Study of Scottish Hermeneutical Method from John Knox to the Early Twentieth Century: From Christian to Secular,” as well as readers co-authored with colleagues and numerous articles.

He frequently appeared on local and national media outlets, translating difficult political, cultural, and biblical topics for a public audience with humility, clarity, and diplomacy.

Marc loved the Church, past and present, generally but also particularly his home church, Veritas, where he taught community group and mentored men. In all his years as a Christian, he never willingly neglected a meeting with the saints. He also served as an elder at Grace Covenant Church for 18 years. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church of America and Reformed Episcopal Church, he regularly filled the pulpit in reformed churches throughout the tri-state region.

Chief of all his ministries, he taught his daughters to trust in Christ and love and obey God and his Word as well as instilled in them zeal for the reformed Christian tradition. All four continue to walk with the Lord after their father’s faithful leadership and example.
As much as Marc enjoyed a conference or reclining on the couch with a heady volume on church history, he found profoundly simple joy in a geode he discovered in the dirt, an excellent choral hymn arrangement, his nightly bath and bowl of chocolate ice cream, whistling the WV fight song, chatting with his brother on the phone, petting his golden retriever, a CSX locomotive chugging parallel U.S. 23, or a muggy July day brewing an evening storm.
He stayed on a first-name basis with the owners of dozens of used bookstores throughout the Appalachian states, in which you’d often spot him in creaky corners behind stacks of volumes with his daughters on Saturday afternoons.

He leaves behind his beloved wife, Jennifer Clauson; their daughters, Heather Clauson, Natalie (Tyler) Detrick, Caroline (Alexander) Kidd, and Elaina (Jeremiah) Alexander; his four grandchildren, Frazier, Lewis, and Charles Detrick and Evangeline Kidd; his mother, Phyllis Clauson, and his brother, Kevin Clauson. Each clings to their hope in Christ that they will see Marc in glory soon.

A memorial service honoring Marc’s life will be held at 12:00 PM on Saturday, April 12th at Light of the Nations Orthodox Presbyterian Church, 1501 East Third Street Dayton, Ohio 45403. Visitation will begin at 9:00 AM. The family requests that, rather than sending flowers or gifts, donations be made to Reformation Classical Academy with indication that it is for the Dr. Marc Clauson Memorial Fund. For more information and to view Marc’s online obituary, please visit www.churchfuneralsdirect.com.



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