The meeting was held from August 10–15, 1980, at the Glacier View Ranch, a church-owned retreat and conference centre in Colorado, United States.
Ford's firing was a controversial and emotionally charged issue, and the church experienced the largest exit of teachers and ministers in its history.
Investigative judgment has been criticized, in part or whole, by a few vocal Adventists since the late nineteenth century, such as D. M. Canright, A. F. Ballenger, W. W. Fletcher, W. W. Prescott, Louis R. Conradi, and Raymond Cottrell.
In the 1970s, dissident Australian former church member Robert Brinsmead attempted to convince leading Adventist theologians Desmond Ford and Edward Heppenstall to write a refutation of it.
"[4] After Ford and Heppenstall declined his request, Brinsmead returned to Australia and wrote the critical work "1844" Re-Examined which he published in July 1979.
[4] Desmond Ford, described by Time magazine as "a prominent Australian theologian",[5] had been lecturing in theology at Avondale College in Australia.
Before the meeting, he was given 6 months of paid leave during which he prepared a 991-page manuscript entitled Daniel 8:14, the Day of Atonement, and the Investigative Judgment, which began "The present writer has as his intent the defense of the church.
According to Time, he "made the case that Ellen G. White's 'sanctuary' explication of 1844 no longer stood up in the light of the Bible, and that 'investigative judgment' undercut the whole basis of Protestantism: belief in salvation by God's grace apart from good works.
"[5] His criticisms included, The Glacier View meeting ultimately produced two consensus statements, entitled “Christ in the Heavenly Sanctuary” and “The Role of Ellen G. White in Doctrinal Matters.” In addition, a ten-point summary was formulated by six of the attendees, outlining the main points of difference between Ford’s positions and traditional Adventist teaching.
[14] Others have claimed that although theologians present at Glacier View sympathised with Ford's position, they were "intimidated into silence by ecclesiological pressure"; the Adventist church has denied this to be the case.
According to one report, towards the end of the meetings "a small group of church executives" confronted Ford with ultimatums such as "Publicly denounce Robert Brinsmead as a troublemaker and heretic or hand in your credentials.
"[16] According to the report, "intense pressure brought to bear on Parmenter by a group of ultra-conservative members in Australia" added to the eventual dismissal of Ford from ministry.
[23] Ford opined in 2002 that when Edward Heppenstall received the Glacier View manuscript, "he declared, 'The church will never be able to answer this,' and the last 22 years have proved him right.