“You can probably hear my printer in the background,” Reddit user Mark Naugle (user chubs_gato) says by phone, speaking over the whir of the office machine. “That’s another letter.”

It’s been the soundtrack of his life lately. Naugle, a 30 year old immigration attorney near Salt Lake City, posted a personal offer to the ex-Mormon community this past summer. For those wanting to leave the Church of Latter-day Saints, he would represent them and send in their resignation letters, all free of charge. “I just want to help as many people escape as I can,” wrote Naugle, a former Mormon himself. “If you would like, I’ll even buy you your first beer.”

He wasn’t expecting the news that would come. Two weeks ago, the LDS church introduced new policies that label same-sex couples as apostates and prohibit their children from being baptized into the faith until they are 18. Since the changes were announced, Naugle has flooded with requests.

“I just dropped 1,830 letters in the mail today,” he says. “Prior to that, I processed 679. And I still have plenty more in my inbox to work on.”

Yet he’s soldiering on in his mission. Naugles spoke with Upvoted about why this work is needed and why he feels charged to do it.

Why do you want to help Mormons resign from the church?

My immediate family and I left the church when I was 15 years old. We know what it took and what the process is to get out. It’s quite a pain for people who don’t have an attorney.

I’ve been helping people leave ever since I graduated from law school. I started by helping friends and family. When I moved back to Utah earlier this year, I decided to see if I could maybe help more people. That’s when I posted on Reddit.

What do you remember about being an LDS member?

The pressure. The fear that I’d done something wrong that will terminate my eternal salvation. [While camping,] we had a Scout leader who caught us with playing cards—we weren’t gambling or playing poker. He just saw the face cards [which some Mormons prohibit] and told us we’d invited Satan into our tent. Things like that just always made me afraid. I was a fearful little kid until I started to realize these things aren’t real.

Why do Mormons need a lawyer to leave?

A lot of people don’t realize how difficult it is to leave. My grandmother who’s a Lutheran in Kansas says, “Well, if I don’t want to go to church anymore, I just stop going.” But it’s not that easy with the Mormon church.

If you attempt to resign from the church on your own, you’re going to be contacted by your local bishop. He’s going to come over and start asking you questions to figure out what you’ve done wrong and why you don’t have a testimony anymore. He’s going to put you on a 60-day probation period. He’s going to call your family, the neighbors and everyone in the congregation so they can start helping you stay in the fold. It’s essentially a form of harassment. I don’t think they do it maliciously necessarily, but they feel that your eternal salvation is on the line. This process can take three to four months with a lot of pain and suffering. For most people, it’s not worth it to do it that way.

[Under my representation,] people fill out the forms and send them back to me. I’ll print them, sign them and mail them to the church. When I receive confirmation that their name has been removed, I email them. They should receive no contact [from the church].

What are people saying about the work you’re doing?

People are sharing so many stories—I can’t read them all. But I have my wall here and I’ve started putting up the nice notes people send me.

There was one especially touching thing that I saw a mass resignation event that I attended. A little 11-year-old girl drew a picture on the back of her resignation letter. It was a picture of rainbow and what looked like me, because I have a big beard. She wrote, “I’m so happy.”

Are many people scared, too?

At the event, there were plenty of people who were in tears and shaking. It’s so psychologically gripping, especially if you’ve been in it since you were a child.

The word is “programming.” You’re programmed to think that if you break from the church, you’re breaking from your family, your friends, your community and eternal life. So people struggle with it and struggle to do it.

I’m so proud of all the people who have stood up in the last two weeks since that announcement [of the new policies] came out. I know what it takes. It takes a lot of courage. It takes the willingness to stand up for what’s right. All of these people have and it’s incredible to me.

Have you faced any backlash?

Not at all. I haven’t gotten any hate mail. I’m kind of surprised I haven’t gotten any type of response like that. I am a little worried about my business. I try to keep my immigration firm separate from my work here.

My business partner—she’s my fiancée—has been extremely supportive throughout this whole thing. She says that if it really affects us here in Utah, then we’ll have to go somewhere else. That’s what it will take to do the right thing.

Is there an expiration date on this offer? When do you have to go back to your day job?

I tell people that as long as I live and can sign the form, I’ll do it. My dad just passed away. He’s the one who led us out of the church when I was 15 and he’s the reason I do what I do today. Without his courage, I might still be there. He taught me to always question what I was told. He taught me to think for myself. He taught me to always look to help others.

He was able to see what we’re doing. He told me how proud he was of me and how happy he was that I was helping so many people.

Are you spiritual today?

I’m an atheist. The outpouring of support, especially since my father died, has been bigger than anything I could have ever imagined. I don’t think I need a religion in order to feel peace and support and joy.