Story highlights Trump: "I am Presbyterian Protestant. I go to Marble Collegiate Church"

"I've just had great experiences at church, whether it is Sunday School or whatever it may be."

Washington (CNN) Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told reporters Thursday that he attends a church in Manhattan, but the church released a statement saying the real estate developer is not an "active member."

"I am Presbyterian Protestant. I go to Marble Collegiate Church," he told reporters in Greenville, S.C.

Marble Collegiate Church was founded in 1628 and is one of the oldest continuous Protestant denominations in the country. The church is part of the Reformed Church in America denomination and is on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

Trump has expressed admiration for Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, the author of the self-help book "The Power of Positive Thinking," and the pastor at Marble Collegiate Church for 52 years from 1932 until 1984, according to the church website. Peale died in 1993.

"Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking was my pastor," Trump said Tuesday. "To this day one of the great speakers I've seen. You hated to leave church. You hated when the sermon was over. That's how great he was at Marble Collegiate Church."

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