He posted a goodbye message on Facebook last month (February) after deleting his twitter account a few weeks before.

The pseudonymous rodent was regarded as an important commentator and he believed social media was an important way of raising the Church’s profile.

He told BBC online, ‘I think it is unlikely that people will come to Church just because they saw something they liked on Facebook or Twitter. But a visible and positive Christian presence online can build a positive image for the Church and support wider efforts to engage with non-Church goers.’

When approached by Christianity magazine he declined to comment on his reasons for ‘retiring’

But he directed us to his Facebook page where he’d written that Twitter had become ‘a bit too much like hard work’ and that he was ‘off in search of fun elsewhere.’

UPDATE: The Church Mouse obviously found no more fun, and returned to Twitter in June 2013. You can find him @thechurchmouse.