The purpose of this research is to explore and describe what the experiences of academics and clinical training are like when the pastors major in counseling in a graduate school. As the interest in counseling is growing among Korean Protestant churches in general, the number of pastors who enroll in graduate schools to learn counseling has increased. The focus of this study is on understanding what those pastors’ experiences are like particularly when they go through the training process, and how those experiences interact with their life and ministry. For data collection, six pastors who were studying for their Master’s degrees in counseling were individually interviewed for a 6 month period via face-to-face interviews, e-mails, and phone calls. The gathered data were analyzed through phenomenological research method proposed by Colaizzi(1978). The result of the research indicated: 31 measures of meaning, 13 sub themes, and 4 main themes emerged as significant topics out of pastors’ professional counselor training experiences. The 4 main themes are categorized as follows: first, ‘starting master’s degree in counseling for various purposes’, second, ‘perceptional changes toward human beings in the middle’, third, ‘the paradigm shift in ministry into the one incorporating pastoral counseling’, and finally, ‘realization of the necessity of including counseling studies during the Master’s degree in divinity in graduate school of theology.’ Based on the results, academic and clinical implications are discussed.