EXHIBIT 31 (b)
                                  CERTIFICATION

I, Richard H. Flake, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this Form 10-Q of Provident Community Bancshares, Inc.;

2        Based  on my  knowledge,  this  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 report;

3.       Based on my knowledge,  the financial statements,  and  other financial
         information  included in this 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
         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-15(e)  and  15d-15(e))  for  the
         registrant and have:

         (a)      Designed such disclosure  controls and  procedures,  or caused
                  such  disclosure  controls and procedures to be designed under
                  our supervision,  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 report is being prepared;

         (b)      Evaluated the  effectiveness  of the  registrant's  disclosure
                  controls  and  procedures  and  presented  in this  report our
                  conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
                  and  procedures,  as of the end of the period  covered by this
                  report based on such evaluation; and

         (c)      Disclosed  in  this  report  any  change  in the  registrant's
                  internal control over financial reporting that occurred during
                  the registrant's  most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's
                  fourth  fiscal  quarter in the case of an annual  report) that
                  has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
                  affect,  the  registrant's  internal  control  over  financial
                  reporting; and

5.       The registrant's other certifying  officer and I have disclosed,  based
         on our most  recent  evaluation  of  internal  control  over  financial
         reporting,  to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
         registrant's  board of directors (or persons  performing the equivalent
         functions):

                  (a)      All significant  deficiencies and material weaknesses
                           in the design or operation  of internal  control over
                           financial  reporting  which are reasonably  likely to
                           adversely affect the registrant's  ability to record,
                           process,  summarize and report financial information;
                           and

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                  (b)      Any fraud,  whether or not  material,  that  involves
                           management or other  employees who have a significant
                           role  in  the  registrant's   internal  control  over
                           financial reporting.


Date: May 14, 2007                      /s/ Richard H. Flake
      ------------------------          --------------------
                                        Richard H. Flake
                                        Executive Vice President and
                                        Chief Financial Officer