David Hetland, renowned liturgical artist, dies

by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service

David J. Hetland, 58, died April 16 after a decade of battling
primary pulmonary hypertension. He died after returning home in
Fargo, N.D., from Easter worship. Born in Grand Forks, N.D.,
Hetland graduated in 1969 from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn.
Concordia, one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), awarded Hetland with an
honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree and the Alumni Achievement
Award. He was Concordia's director of communications, 1974-1982,
and later director of special projects. He designed Concordia's
Christmas Concert murals since 1978.

Hetland was recognized for his works in mosaic and stained glass,
as well as huge murals that serve as backdrops for many places
and events across the ELCA. He designed "Rondel," a mosaic the
ELCA commissioned and placed in the lobby of the Lutheran Center
in Chicago. The Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary, presented
Pope John Paul II with "Jerusalem Cross," a mosaic panel that
Hetland crafted. In 2003 he paid tribute to ELCA colleges and
universities with 10 panels that participants of the ELCA Youth
Gathering painted in Atlanta. The finished panels decorated the
2003 Churchwide Assembly plenary hall in Milwaukee. A mural he
created in July 2005 for the ELCA Global Mission Event in Fargo
is part of the Lutheran Student Center at North Dakota State
University, Fargo. His mosaic "Shepherd of the Cross" is
displayed at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in
Moorhead, Minn.

A memorial service will be April 21 at Olivet Lutheran Church,
Fargo, where he, his wife Mary, and their adult daughter were
members.