For years, the students at Wichita Falls High School urged their math teacher, Sparkle Washington, to enter the "American Idol" competition as a singer.

They were an attentive audience as their teacher often put their math strategies into song and warbled in class.

She waved them off, not interested in the venue that she considered a conflict of interest.

"I want to sing for Jesus," she said. "('American Idol') is not set up to ensure that I'd get to do that."

But in August, Sparkle and her siblings, Vanity and Lulanger, who form a gospel trio called Of Scripture, found themselves on a stage in Estes Park, Colo., in a talent competition very similar to the popular television show.

They competed in the Gospel Music Association's 2008 Music in the Rockies National Competition.

GMA, the voice of the gospel music industry, named the Wichita Falls trio Of Scripture as the National 2008 Artist Vocal Group winner.

"I thought of my students immediately," Sparkle Washington said of the contest that was judged in the same way that "American Idol" is. "It was fun."

The GMA judges compared the Washington trio's a cappella, three-part harmony to the gospel jazz of multiple Grammy-winning singing group Take 6.

But describing Of Scripture is more difficult than that.

Its style -- not rap, not jazz, not chanting -- is a melodic arrangement of Scripture verses that includes the book, chapter and verse woven right in.

Their two recordings, "Hide the Word" and "Hide the Word, Vol. II," contain exclusively Scripture songs.

One contains a warning: "The singing of these songs may result in scripture memory!!!" and a disclaimer, "Songs on this CD are not solely intended to entertain."

Song titles are simply the Bible verses and the version of the Bible they come from: Matthew 24:35 (King James Version), Hebrews 4:15-16 (New International Version), Psalms 19:14 (The Living Bible).

"Our primary mission is to teach," Washington said. "My mom gave me the idea to do the Scriptures like that. We've been creating a whole bunch of them. We wanted a name that suited our main ministry."

They've arranged hundreds of them, but haven't yet had the time or money to go into a studio to record them all.

"People seem to catch onto it," said Vanity Washington. "They seem to love it because it's the word of God. When you're memorizing the words we're saying, you're memorizing the Bible. Before you know it, you're humming something from one of our CDs; you're humming the word of God."

The three of them have performed the songs in 20- to 45-minute concerts in churches around Wichita Falls for years.

"They're just absolutely beautiful, the harmony they had. It was gorgeous," said Cameron Williams, a youth pastor at Overcoming Word Praise Center who listened to Of Scripture a couple of years ago when the group performed at her church.

Williams purchased a recording then, and it helped her learn Scripture, she said. She broke into tune, singing, "James 4 and 17. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."

Alfonso Holmes, youth pastor at Overcoming Word, said the group's songs help children learn Bible verses.

"I've actually taught certain scriptures from their CD," Holmes said.

Their distinctive harmony "almost sounds like rap, but it's not, of course. It doesn't rhyme. How in the world do they make it sound this way, without adding a word or leaving out a word? That's real important," he said of the accuracy in each song.

The GMA competition was an opportunity for the Washingtons to take their presentation to a larger audience. Their win earned them an all-expenses-paid trip back to the competition next year, tickets to the Dove Awards, a free legal consultation, free vocal coaching, free Web site development from BandZoogle, and free career consultation from Centricity Records.

"We (did) tons and tons of networking with tons of people, which was fabulous," Washington said.

Of Scripture began years ago when the trio's father, Lulanger, wanted a choir to precede his sermons when he traveled to various churches. "But he didn't have one. He just had a bunch of kids. So he told us we were going to start being his choir," recalls Washington.

Eventually, the group took up its signature style of singing just Scripture.

Helping Christians memorize Scripture may one day be more important than anyone realizes, said Vanity. "I believe one day we won't even be able to have Bibles. Bibles will be banned. But they can never take it from your heart if (the Scripture) is there."

Taking Bible verses to heart can also help one live a better life, she said. "I know myself when I really don't feel like doing right, these songs will just pop up and convict me. Then the choice comes whether to listen to God's Word or not. But it's there, and that's the point."

All three singers would like to minister full time through their songs and were hoping that the GMA competition might be the steppingstone to open up a music career. Their trip to the competition was paid for by many Wichita Falls residents who responded to fundraisers that helped raise the funds for them to go.

But not far into the Colorado competition, the group was tempted to abandon its trademark Scripture songs and sing something more contemporary.

"The judges weren't really understanding what we were doing," Vanity said. "They were saying it wasn't marketable or commercial enough. Initially, we were going to change the songs we were doing and sing regular songs that were more suitable."

But after some brainstorming with friends, the group decided that God had given them the specific ministry of singing Scripture. "And that's what we needed to stick with."

Ultimately, the judges came around.

The win was exciting but humbling, Vanity said. "God decided to go ahead and shine through me and my brother and my sister, in spite of what we're not."

Today, each Washington sibling works as a substitute teacher, teachers' aide or instructor around Wichita Falls, keeping their schedules free for local concerts and any opportunities that God might bring along.

Washington, who no longer teaches the math class at Wichita Falls High School, is going to a seminary. She plans to minister full time, either through music or a seminary degree.

"People write us letters telling us how much we bless them. We're all at the point that we're ready now, if anything opens up, we're just ready to go."