PLEASANT GROVE, Utah — Evenings in the Manwill family home were filled with music throughout Sherrie Manwill Boren’s childhood in the 1980s and ’90s. The author/composer of “Holy Places,” one of the songs included in “Hymns — For Home and Church," the new global hymnbook of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, cherishes these childhood memories made in her Taylorsville, Utah, home.
“No matter what other conflicts had happened during the day, we could come back to this feeling of oneness,” recalled Boren, explaining how she came to recognize this as one of her holy places.
Holy places
Boren was about 9 years old when she first heard the scriptural charge of “stand ye in holy places, and be not moved” (Doctrine and Covenants 87:8).
Wanting to be standing in a holy place when Jesus Christ returned, she pictured herself in “the chapel and the temple: peaceful, wonderful holy places.” But there was a problem: What if she had to go to school, the store or somewhere else?
“I can’t just stay there and hide out in dedicated buildings,” she remembered thinking. Her questions led to a quest for understanding what the Lord meant by “holy places.” The concept of holy places became clearer as Boren recognized places, activities and circumstances where the Spirit was present.
When the Church invited members to submit original music to be considered as part of “Hymns — For Home and Church,” Boren immediately felt one of the songs she should write could help people understand what holy places are and how to intentionally be there. Though her feelings were clear, she struggled to put the phrases and melodies together. So, she decided to set it aside to work on other music.
Months went by, and she had not been able to work on the song. Then, one week before the submission deadline, Boren woke up at 4 a.m., her mind composing the words and music from the fragments she had jotted down months before.
“It was like the Lord had taken the little ideas … and put them together for me,” she recalled, adding that she got up immediately, went to the piano and began writing it down. By sunrise, the first draft was done. A few days later, she submitted it.
Holier through refinement
In January 2024, the Church music committee contacted her. They wanted the song to move forward — but with changes. A few lyric adjustments were needed.
The second verse, about the home being a holy place, reflected specifically Boren’s experience growing up. The music committee proposed some changes to make it more broadly applicable.
Boren said she valued the committee’s insight. She felt the changes broadened the verse’s reach, offering hope that people in any circumstance can apply its principles to make their home a holy place.
The proposed text changes made sense to her and were pretty easy to make. Music changes, however, were harder. In a brainstorming session with a committee member, Boren resisted revisions. It was decided that they end the session and revisit it together in a few days.
Reflecting on the struggle, Boren said, she didn’t understand why what she had felt inspired to write had to be changed — until she saw the committee’s early note on a digital copy of her original submission:
“We really like the text, but … the music is somewhat weak. If the music can’t be strengthened, we propose rewriting the music,” the note said.
Boren said reading the note was painful but helped her realize the message did not invalidate what the Lord had given her that morning five years earlier — there was just more that needed to be done to make it what the Lord intended.
Over the next few days, she prayed and worked, letting go of her original melody. The new version — with a different contour and harmonies — “was so much better at communicating the spirit of the words,” she said. “It wasn’t bad before, it just wasn’t what it needed to be for everybody.”
Listen to the song “Holy Places” here.
Holy Places
Where heaven touches earth —
A rev’rent place, a hallowed space,
Where we do the Savior’s work.
(Chorus) I’ll stand in holy places
With a heart that’s firm and true,
Until Christ returns and makes all the world Holy, clean, and new.
To learn of God above —
A prayerful place to seek His face,
Where we grow in faith and love.
I’ll stand in holy places
With a heart that’s firm and true,
Until Christ returns and makes all the world Holy, clean, and new.
When all around is dim —
A peaceful place of hope and grace,
Where the Spirit shines within.
I’ll stand in holy places
With a heart that’s firm and true,
Until Christ returns and makes all the world Holy, clean, and new.
‘As we become more holy’
Boren said the refining process taught her that revelation can be a starting point, not the final form.
“The Lord can take our little bits and pieces … and weave them together into something beautiful,” she said, referring to the early morning inspiration she received, as well as one’s personal process of sanctification. “But there’s also this process of refining and revising we all need to go through as we become more holy.”
