Exhibit 31.1

                            CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
                               SECTION 302 OF THE
                           SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002


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                                                                    Exhibit 31.1

                      CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO SECTION 302
                        OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Brent L. Peters, President and Chief Executive Officer, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of East Penn Financial
Corporation;

2. Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact, or omit to state a material fact necessary to make
the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements
were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this quarterly
report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all material
respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the
registrant as of, and for the periods presented in this quarterly report;

4. The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-14 and 15d-14) for the registrant and we have:

      a)    designed such disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that
            material information relating to the registrant, including its
            consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within
            those entities, particularly during the period in which this
            quarterly report is being prepared;

      b)    evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
            and procedures as of a date within 90 days prior to the filing date
            of this quarterly report (the "Evaluation Date"); and

      c)    presented in this quarterly report our conclusions about the
            effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures based on the
            required evaluation as of the Evaluation Date.

5. The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our
most recent evaluation, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of
registrant's board of directors:

      a)    all significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal
            controls which could adversely affect the registrant's ability to
            record, process, summarize and report financial data and have
            identified for the registrant's auditors any material weaknesses in
            internal controls; and

      b)    any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
            other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
            internal controls; and

6. The registrant's other certifying officer and I have indicated in this
quarterly report whether or not there were significant changes in internal
controls or in other factors that could significantly affect internal controls
subsequent to the date of our most recent evaluation, including any corrective
actions with regard to significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.


Date: August 14, 2003          By: /s/ Brent L. Peters
                                   -------------------------------------
                                       BRENT L. PETERS
                                       President and Chief Executive Officer


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