Hetherwick led a very active life, his days and nights filled with meetings, events and travels. Yet he also had a strongly contemplative side and was given to reflecting on the nature and meaning of the missionary work in which he was engaged. On one occasion when there had been many visitors at the Blantyre manse he complained to fellow missionary Margaret Christie, ‘So I have not had the chance of “thinking long”.’ A capacity to take the long view was his hallmark. Often when engaged with a particular incident or episode, he would explain it in terms of how it exhibited a broader trend or illustrated a deeper principle. When these reflections are drawn together, a clear philosophy of mission is revealed. For example, he took a very wide view of the missionary calling. Rather than restricting the engagement of the Mission to any narrowly conceived religious sphere, in his view it ought to be concerned with every dimension of life.

This guided his policy as editor of Life and Work, the mission magazine that enjoyed a wide readership and often aroused controversy during the early years of the British Protectorate. As he once explained in an editorial:

He was well aware that this policy was open to criticism: ‘A candid friend once told us that we were not religious enough in our tone – not missionary enough, that we do not follow the common type of missionary magazines.’ Members of the oft-criticised British Administration had also made it clear that they wished that Life and Work would confine its attention to strictly religious matters.