Anthony C. Weagley, Vice President and Treasurer

            CENTER BANCORP, INC. COSUMMATES MERGER WITH RED OAK BANK

Union, New Jersey, May 20, 2005 ---Center Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ, NM: CNBC) parent
company to Union Center National Bank of Union, New Jersey, completed its
previously announced merger with Red Oak Bank effective at the close of business
today. Red Oak Bank, headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey, was a state
chartered commercial bank with approximately $98 million in assets.

Under the merger agreement, half of the outstanding Red Oak shares will be
converted into $13.3 million in cash and half of Red Oak's shares will be
converted into a total of approximately one million shares of Center Bancorp
common stock. Center anticipates that the transaction will be accretive to
earnings in 2005.

"The merger with Red Oak was consistent with our company's continued strategy of
highly focused growth within approximately 50 miles of our headquarters, through
new branches and acquisitions of other financial institutions with a similar
customer culture. In our view, Red Oak represented Center's best possible
acquisition candidate currently in Morris County. This was an opportunity for
Center to expand its franchise and provide its full complement of services along
with its high level of customer service to this market. Red Oak offered Center
the opportunity to take advantage of the growing market place in Morris County
and to further our commitment to that area" said John J. Davis, President & CEO.

Center Bancorp, Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary, Union Center National
Bank, Union, New Jersey, currently operates thirteen banking locations. Banking
centers are located in Union Township (6 locations), Berkeley Heights, Madison,
Millburn/Vauxhall, Morristown (2 locations), Springfield, and Summit, New
Jersey. The Bank also operates remote ATM locations in the Union New Jersey
Transit train station and in Union Hospital. The Bank also received recent
approvals to install and operate two additional off-premise ATM locations in the
Chatham and Madison New Jersey Transit Stations.

Union Center National Bank is the largest commercial Bank headquartered in Union
County; it was chartered in 1923 and is a full-service banking company.


For further information regarding Center Bancorp Inc., call 1-(800)-862-3683.
For information regarding Union Center National Bank visit our web site at
"http://www.centerbancorp.com" ~http://www.centerbancorp.com.

All non-historical statements in this press release (including the anticipated
accretive nature of the merger) constitute forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
forward-looking statements may use such forward-looking terminology as "expect,"
"look," "believe," "plan," "anticipate," "may," "will" or similar statements or
variations of such terms or otherwise express views concerning trends and the
future. Such forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties.
These include, but are not limited to, the direction of interest rates,
continued levels of loan quality and origination volume, continued relationships
with major customers including sources for loans, as well as the effects of
international, national, regional and local economic conditions and legal and
regulatory barriers and structure, including those relating to the deregulation
of the financial services industry, and other risks cited in reports filed by
the Corporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may
differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Center Bancorp, Inc.
assumes no obligation for updating any such forward-looking statement at any
time.