U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, DC 20549 FORM 4 STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 [_] Check box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b). ________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Name and Address of Reporting Person* DAVIS JOHN J -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Last) (First) (Middle) 6 KNOLLWOOD DR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Street) MORRISTOWN NJ 07960 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (City) (State) (Zip) CENTER BANCORP, INC. CNBC ________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol ________________________________________________________________________________ 3. IRS Identification Number of Reporting Person, if an Entity (Voluntary) DECEMBER, 2002 ________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Statement for Month/Year ________________________________________________________________________________ 5. If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Year) ________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Relationship of Reporting Person to Issuer (Check all applicable) [X] Director [ ] 10% Owner [X] Officer (give title below) [ ] Other (specify below) Title if applicable: PRESIDENT & CEO ________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check applicable line) [X] Form filed by one Reporting Person [ ] Form filed by more than one Reporting Person ________________________________________________________________________________ ================================================================================ Table I -- Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned ================================================================================

(Over) FORM 4 (continued) Table II -- Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)

__________________________ ** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a). Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space provided is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure. Page 2

CENTER BANCORP INC 4