Someone may present the work in Antioch of Syria (Acts 13) wherein there were no elders mentioned. The fact that shepherds are not mentioned in the church at Antioch does not mean that they did not have them. The mention of “teachers” may have included them and others, but where there are prophets and apostles among the brethren, the same work was being done (cf. Eph. 4:11). Consequently, their appointment was not necessary.
Though we recognize that a distinction is made between elders and apostles (Acts 15:2), Peter refers to himself as a “fellow elder” (1 Peter 5:2) and Paul refers to the “laying on of the hands of the presbytery” (1 Tim. 4:14) which may refer to the apostles who were the ones who could confer a spiritual gift to others (Acts 8:18). They were certainly shepherd-like in their role of teaching and caring for souls (cf. 2 Cor. 11:28). It was not until Paul and Barnabas began traveling and leaving new Christians behind them that the practice of appointing shepherds began. The presence of Paul and Barnabas and other prophets who continued a whole year with the brethren in Antioch suggests the need for teaching but not the appointment of shepherds at that time.
It is also important to realize that during the early years of the first century, not every divine arrangement was established overnight. Being primarily a Gentile community, it is probable that none qualified in Antioch at this early stage as they would have been “novices”. Based on the fact that there were elders in Jerusalem (Acts 11:30, 15:2, 4, 6, 22-23), a strong Jewish community, and the appointment of elders in Acts 14:23 were among Jewish converts, not having elders in predominant Gentile communities would not be so unusual. There is no mention of them in Corinth, either. However, the brethren in Antioch were not left without guidance because other teachers were among them. They had an apostle part of the time, prophets, and “many other teachers” (cf. Acts 15:35). Even the elders who were ordained in Acts 14:23, Paul and Barnabas return to see how they fair and to confirm or establish their faith. Brethren were not free to express every “think-so” and unsupported theory by people who “desire to be teachers of the law but understand neither what they say nor whereof they confidently affirm” (1 Tim. 1:7). Not only may an apostle confirm their faith and work, but he may also go and lay hands on brethren or an evangelist may be sent to work among them until such leadership was among them