What should you do when you fall on hard times? Shoplift, of course. Or so a priest with the Church of England has advised members of his congregation.

The Rev. Tim Jones, parish priest of St. Lawrence and St. Hilda in York, England, says society’s attitude to those in need “leaves some people little option but crime.”

“My advice, as a Christian priest, is to shoplift,” the 42-year-old priest told his congregation Sunday, the Yorkshire Evening Post reports.

And if they do decide to steal merchandise, the reverend says they should take from big national chains rather than small businesses because the costs “are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices.”

Meanwhile, the archdeacon of York was less than agreeable when it comes to Jones’ advice, saying, “The Church of England does not advise anyone to shoplift.”

As for the North Yorkshire police? They called his sermon “highly irresponsible.”