All of us have been shocked and perplexed by the horrific killings in Bondi last December. Both the event itself and the reactions and debates that followed have been complex, challenging and in some cases perplexing. This edition of Essentials has an article by Bishop Michael Stead on the implications of hate speech legislation. Michael has active engagement at multiple levels in this area and it’s an important contribution. Most people will never of have heard of Herbert Lum, but he heads up an important project to impact the way schools engage with the complexity of being multi-faith communities. David Williams has written an excellent article on apologetics and we have the stories of The Bridge Church in Sydney and TIMA Church in Melbourne, along with a number of book reviews.