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                                  Exhibit 31.1

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

I, J. Roger Moyer, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer certify, that:

      1.    I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Sterling
            Financial Corporation;

      2.    Based on my knowledge, this annual 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 annual report;

      3.    Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
            information included in this annual 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 annual 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 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 annual 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 annual report (the "Evaluation Date");
                  and

            (c)   Presented in this annual report our conclusions about the
                  effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures based
                  on our evaluation as of the Evaluation Date;

      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 registrant's board of:

            (a)   All significant deficiencies in the design or operation of the
                  internal controls over financial reporting 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 over financial reporting; and

      6.    The registrant's other certifying officer and I have indicated in
            this annual report whether 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: March 12, 2004
                                       By:         /s/ J. ROGER MOYER, JR.
                                           -------------------------------------
                                                    J. Roger Moyer, Jr.
                                           President and Chief Executive Officer